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COKKKIGIfT DEPOEUS 



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The purpose of Playing, whose end, s both at the first and now, 

was and is, to hold, as 'twer, the Mirrour up to Nature ; to show 

Vertue her owne Feature, Scome her owne Image, and the verie 

Age and Bodie of the Time, his forme and pressure. 

— Hamlet. 



SHAKESPEARE'S 



TRAGEDY OF 



JULIUS CiESAR. 



EDITED, WITH NOTES, 



HOMER B. SPRAGUE, A.M., Ph.D., 

FORMERLY PROFESSOR OF RHETORIC IN CORNELL UNIVERSITY, AND AFTERWARDS 

PRESIDENT OF THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH DAKOTA ; FOUNDER 

OF THE MARTHA'S VINEYARD SUMMER INSTITUTE. 



CRITICAL COMMENTS, SUGGESTIONS AND PLANS FOR 

STUDY, SPECIMENS OF EXAMINATION PAPERS, 

AND TOPICS FOR ESSAYS. 



SILVER, BURDETT & CO., PUBLISHERS, j 
New York . . . BOSTON . . . Chicago. 
1894. 

I 

r 






COPYRIGHT, 1894, 

By SILVER, BURDETT & COMPANY. 



Norfaooti yrfSB: 

J. S. Cushing & Co. — Berwick & Smith. 

Boston, Mass., U.S.A. 



PEEFAOE. 



This edition of Julius Ccesar is especially intended for teachers 
and students, but it is hoped that the general reader may find it 
useful. It is not expected that all the notes will be alike valuable 
to all ; but it is believed that most readers, whatever their object 
may be in reading the play, will find in them something helpful. 
In the following respects it will be found to differ from other 
school editions : — 

1. The notes are all designed to stimulate rather than supersede 
thought. 

2. The results of the latest etymological and critical researches, 
for the most part, are given. 

3. It states concisely the opinions of some of the best critics on 
nearly every disputed interpretation. 

4. It presents some of the best methods of studying English 
literature. 

5. It contains a chronological table of the important events in 
Caesar's life. 

It is proper to add that we adhere more closely than other edi- 
tors to the earliest approved texts. In some cases, as in Act I, 
sc. iii, line 10, the original reading imparts wonderful vividness 
and power. 1 

As in our editions of Hamlet, Macbeth, and The Merchant of 
Venice, we follow Rolfe in the numbering of the lines. 

1 By changing the text, the editors, with hardly an exception, have 
taken the very life out of the passage. 

5 



PREFACE. 



Grateful to the public for its kind reception of these editions, 
and especially grateful to those scholars who have pointed out 
occasional imperfections of any kind, the editor wishes success to 
every attempt to make Shakespeare better known and more highly 
appreciated. 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

Introduction to Julius CLesar 9 

Date of Composition 9 

Source of the Plot 9 

Extracts from North's Plutarch. „ 10 

Critical Comments 19 

Johnson. — Hazlitt. — Mrs. Jameson. — Knight. — Ulrici. — 
Merivale. — Gervinus. — Craik. — Fronde. — Hudson. 
— Dowden." — Morley . — Deighton. — Beeching. 

Chronological Table 40 

Explanations of Abbreviated Forms 43 

Julius Caesar — Text and Foot-notes 44 

Appendix 171 

Time Analysis 171 

How to Study English Literature 171 

Specimen Examination Papers 180 

Topics for Essays 185 

Index 187 



INTRODUCTION'. 



THE TRAGEDIE OF 

IVLIVS CAESAR. 

The above is the title of the first extant edition of the play. 1 In 
that edition there is no list of dramatis personal, nor is the play divided 
into scenes. Rowe (1709) was the first to introduce the list. Succes- 
sive editors have gradually marked the scenes. Many of the stage 
directions are of similar origin. The spelling has been modernized. 
As in our editions of the other plays, Rolfe's numbering of the lines 
has been followed. 

DATE OF COMPOSITION. 

Mr. Halliwell-Phillips quotes from Weever's Mirror of Martyrs 
(1601) the following lines : 

"The many-headed multitude were drawne 
By Brutus' speech, that Caesar was ambitious ; 
When eloquent Mark Antonie had showne 
His virtues, who but Brutus then was vicious ? " 

Now the historian, Plutarch, not having given us the speeches of 
Brutus and Antony, it is inferred with great plausibility that the play 
must have been composed and acted before Weever's poem. 

The tragedy appears to be the first of the great series. There is 
a certain artificiality in the structure, a ' more elaborate proportion and 
balance ' than we find in the later tragedies. Cassius is set off against 
Brutus, Portia against Calpurnia, Antony against Octavius. 



The source was unquestionably Sir Thomas North's English trans- 
lation, published in 1579, of Bishop Jacques Amyot's French trans- 

1 In the folio of 1G23, where it is very accurately printed. In the table of 
contents prefixed to the folio, it is called The Life and death of Julius 
Caesar. 

9 . 



10 INTRODUCTION. 

lation, published in 1559 and again in 1565, of Plutarch's Lives of 
Caesar, Brutus, and Antony. The student should read carefully all 
that Plutarch says of those men. 

[From Plutarch's Julius Ccesar, North's translation, 1579 and 1595.] 

At that time the feast Lupercalia was celebrated, the which in old 
time men say was the feast of shepherds or herdmen, and is much like 
unto the feast of the Lycaeans in Arcadia. But howsoever it is, that 
day there are divers noblemen's sons, young men, (and some of them 
magistrates themselves that govern then), which run through the city, 
striking in sport them they meet in their way with leather thongs, hair 
and all on, to make them give place. And many noblewomen and 
gentlewomen also go of purpose to stand in their way, and do put forth 
their hands to be stricken, as scholars hold them out to their school- 
master to be stricken with the ferula : persuading themselves that in 
this manner they will avoid sterility. Caesar sat to behold that sport 
upon the pulpit for orations, in a chair of gold, apparelled in trium- 
phant manner. Antonius, who was Consul at that time, was one of 
them that ran this holy course. So when he came into the market- 
place, the people made a lane for him to run at liberty, and he came 
to Caesar, and presented him a diadem wreathed about with laurel. 
Whereupon there rose a certain cry of rejoicing, not very great, 'done 
only by a few appointed for the purpose. But when Caesar refused 
the diadem, then all the people together made an outcry of joy. Then 
Antonius offering it him again, there was a second shout of joy, but 
yet of a few. But when Caesar refused it again the second time, then 
all the whole people shouted. Caesar having made this proof, found 
that the people did not like of it, and thereupon rose out of his chair, 
and commanded the crown to be carried unto Jupiter in the Capitol. 
After that, there were set up images of Caesar in the city, with diadems 
upon their heads like kings. Those the two tribunes, Flavius and 
Marullus, went and pulled down, and furthermore, meeting with them 
that first saluted Caesar as king, they committed them to prison. . . . 
Caesar was so offended withal, that he deprived Marullus and Flavius 
of their tribuneships. . . . 

Now they that desired change, and wished Brutus only their prince 
and governor above all other, they durst not come to him themselves 
to tell him what they would have him to do, but in the night did cast 
sundry papers into the Praetor's seat, where he gave audience, and the 
most of them to this effect: "Thou sleepest, Brutus, and art not 
Brutus indeed." Cassius, finding Brutus' ambition stirred up the 
more by these seditious bills, did prick him forward and egg him on 
the inffre, for a private quarrel he had conceived against Caesar. . . . 

Caesar also had Cassius in great jealousy, and suspected him much : 



INTRODUCTION. 11 

whereupon he said on a time to his friends, "What will Cassius do, 
think ye ? I like not his pale looks." Another time when Caesar's 
friends complained unto him of Antonius and Dolabella, that they 
pretended some mischief towards him : he answered them again, "As 
for those fat men and smooth-combed heads," quoth he, "I never 
reckon of them ; but these pale-visaged and carrion-lean people, I 
fear them most," meaning Brutus and Cassius. 

Certainly destiny may easier be foreseen than avoided, considering 
the strange and wonderful signs that were said to be seen before Caesar's 
death. For, touching the fires in the element, and spirits running up 
and down in the night, and also the solitary birds to be seen at noon- 
days sitting in the great market-place, are not all these signs perhaps 
worth the noting, in such a wonderful chance as happened ? But 
Strabo the philosopher writeth, that divers men were seen going up 
and down in fire : and furthermore, that there was a slave of the 
soldiers that did cast a marvellous burning flame out of his hand, 
insomuch as they that saw it thought he had been burnt ; but when 
the fire was out, it was found he had no hurt. Caesar self also doing 
sacrifice unto the gods, found that one of the beasts which was sacri- 
ficed had no heart : and that was a strange thing in nature, how a 
beast could live without a heart. Furthermore there was a certain 
soothsayer that had given Caesar warning long time afore, to take heed 
of the day of the Ides of March, (which is the fifteenth of the month), 
for on that day he should be in great danger. That day being come, 
Caesar going into the Senate house, and speaking merrily unto the 
soothsayer, told him, " the Ides of March be come : " "So they be," 
softly answered the soothsayer, "but yet are they not past." . . . 
Then going to bed the same night, as his manner was, ... all the 
windows and doors of his chamber flying open, the noise awoke him, 
and made him afraid when he saw such light : but more, when he 
heard his wife Calpurnia, being fast asleep, weep and sigh, and put 
forth many fumbling lamentable speeches : for she dreamed that 
Caesar was slain, and that she had him in her arms. . . . Insomuch 
that, Caasar rising in the morning, she prayed him, if it were possible, 
not to go out of the doors that day, but to adjourn the session of the 
Senate until another day. And if that he made no reckoning of her 
dream, yet that he would search further of the soothsayers by their sac- 
rifices, to know what should happen him that day. Thereby it seemed 
that Caesar likewise did fear or suspect somewhat, because his wife Cal- 
purnia until that time was never given to any fear and superstition : 
and that then he saw her so troubled in mind with this dream she had. 
But much more afterwards, when the soothsayers having sacrificed 
many beasts one after another, told him that none did like them : then 
he determined to send Antonius to adjourn the session of the Senate. 

But in the meantime came Decius Brutus, surnamed Albinus, in 



12 INTRODUCTION. 

whom Caesar put such confidence, that in his last will and testament 
he had appointed him to be his next heir, and yet was of the conspiracy 
with Cassius and Brutus : he, fearing that if Caesar did adjourn the 
session that day, the conspiracy would be betrayed, laughed at the 
soothsayers, and reproved Caesar, saying, " that he gave the Senate 
occasion to mislike with him, and that they might think he mocked 
them, considering that by his commandment they were assembled, 
and that they were ready willingly to grant him all things, and to pro- 
claim him king of all his provinces of the Empire of Rome out of Italy, 
and that he should wear his diadem in all other places both by sea and 
land. And furthermore, that if any man should tell them from him 
they should depart for that present time, and return again when 
Calpurnia should have better dreams, what would his enemies and ill— 
willers say, and how could they like of his friends' words ? And who 
could persuade them otherwise, but that they would think his dominion 
a slavery unto them and tyrannical in himself ? And yet if it be so," 
said he, " that you utterly mislike of this day, it is better that you 
go yourself in person, and, saluting the Senate, to dismiss them till 
another time." Therewithal he took Caesar by the hand, and brought 
him out of his house. . . . 

And one Artemidorus also, born in the isle of Gnidos [Cnidos], a 
doctor of rhetoric in the Greek tongue, who by means of his profession 
was very familiar with certain of Brutus' confederates, and therefore 
knew the most part of all their practices against Caesar, came and 
brought him a little bill, written with his own hand, of all that he 
meant to tell him. He, marking how Caesar received all the supplica- 
tions that were offered him, and that he gave them straight to his men 
that were about him, pressed nearer to him, and said : " Caesar, read 
this memorial to yourself, and that quickly, for they be matters of 
great weight, and touch you nearly." Caesar took it of him, but could 
never read it, though he many times attempted it, for the number of 
people that did salute him : but holding it still in his hand, keeping it 
to himself, went on withal into the Senate house. . . . For these 
things, they may seem to come by chance ; but the place where the 
murlher was prepared, and where the Senate were assembled, and where 
also there stood up an image of Pompey dedicated by himself amongst 
other ornaments which he gave unto the theatre, all these were mani- 
fest proofs, that it was the ordinance of some god that made this 
treason to be executed, specially in that very place. It is also reported, 
that Cassius (though otherwise he did favour the doctrine of Epicurus) 
beholding the image of Pompey, before they entered into the action of 
their traitorous enterprise, he did softly call upon it to aid him : but 
the instant danger of the present time, taking away his former reason, 
did suddeuly put him into a furious passion, and made him like a man 
half besides himself. Now Antonius, that was a faithful friend to 



INTRODUCTION. 13 

Csesar, and a valiant man besides of his hands, him Decius Brutus 
Albinus entertained out of the Senate house, having begun a long tale 
of set purpose. So Caesar coming into the house, all the Senate stood 
up on their feet to do him honour. Then part of Brutus' company and 
confederates stood round about Caesar's chair, and part of them also 
came towards him, as though they made suit with Metellus Cimber, to 
call home his brother again from banishment : and thus prosecuting still 
their suit, they followed Cassar till he was set in his chair. Who denying 
their petitions, and being offended with them one after another, be- 
cause the more they were denied the more they pressed upon him and 
were the earnester with him, Metellus at length, taking his gown with 
both his hands, pulled it over his neck, which was the sign given the 
confederates to set upon him. Then Casca, behind him, strake [struck'] 
him in the neck with his sword ; howbeit the wound was not great nor 
mortal, because it seemed the fear of such a devilish attempt did amaze 
him and take his strength from him, that he killed him not at the first 
blow. But Caesar, turning straight unto him, caught hold of his sword 
and held it hard ; and they both cried out, Caesar in Latin: " vile 
traitor Casca, what doest thou ? " and Casca, in Greek, to his brother : 
"Brother, help me." At the beginning of this stir, they that were 
present, not knowing of the conspiracy, were so amazed with the hor- 
rible sight they saw, they had no power to fly, neither to help him, 
nor so much as once to make an outcry. They on the other side that 
had conspired his death compassed him in on every side with their 
swords drawn in their hands, that Caesar turned him no where but he 
was stricken at by some, and still had naked swords in his face, and 
was hackled and mangled among them, as a wild beast taken of 
hunters. For it was agreed among them that every man should give 
him a wound, because all their parts should be in this murther : and 
then Brutus himself gave him a wound. . . . Men report also, that 
Caesar did still defend himself against the rest, running every way 
with his body : but when he saw Brutus with his sword drawn in his 
hand, then he pulled his gown over his head, and made no more resist- 
ance, and was driven either casually or purposedly, by the counsel of 
the conspirators, against the base whereupon Pompey's image stood, 
which ran all of a gore-blood till he was slain. Thus it seemed that 
the image took just revenge of Pompey's enemy, being thrown down 
on the ground at his feet, and yielding up the ghost there, for the 
number of wounds he had upon him. For it is reported, that he had 
three and twenty wounds upon his body : and divers of the conspira- 
tors did hurt themselves, striking one body with so many blows. 



The next day following, the Senate, being called again to council, 
did first of all commend Antonius, for that he had wisely stayed and 



14 INTRODUCTION. 

quenched the beginning of a civil war: then they also gave Brutus 
and his consorts great praises ; and lastly they appointed them several 
governments cf Provinces. For unto Brutus they appointed Creta ; 
Africa unto Cassius ; Asia unto Trebonius ; Bithynia unto Cimber ; 
and unto the other, Decius Brutus Albinus, Gaul on this side of the 
Alps. When this was done, they came to talk of Caesar's will and 
testament and of his funerals and tomb. Then Antonius, thinking 
good his testament should be read openly, and also that his body 
should be honourably buried, and not in hugger-mugger [in secrecy'], 
lest the people might thereby take occasion to be worse offended if 
they did otherwise : Cassius stoutly spake against it. But Brutus 
went with the motion, and agreed unto it. . . . When Caesar's testa- 
ment was openly read among them [the people], it appeared that he 
bequeathed unto every citizen of Rome seventy-five drachmas a man ; 
and that he left his gardens and arbours unto the people, which he had 
on this side of the river Tiber, in the place where now the temple of 
Fortune is built: the people then loved him, and were marvellous sorry 
for him. . . . Therewithal the people fell presently into such a rage 
and mutiny, that there was no more order kept amongst the common 
people. . . . Howbeit the conspirators, foreseeing the danger before, 
had wisely provided for themselves and fled. 

But there was a poet called China, who had been no partaker of the 
conspiracy, but was always one of Ctesar's chief est friends : . . . when 
he heard that they carried Caesar's body to burial, being ashamed not 
to accompany his funerals, he went out of his house, and thrust him- 
self into the prease of the common people that were in a great uproar. 
And because some one called him by his name China, the people, 
thinking he had been that China who in an oration he made had spoken 
very evil of Caesar, they, falling upon him in their rage, slew him out- 
right in the market-place. This made Brutus and his companions 
more afraid than any other thing, next unto the change of Antonius. 
Wherefore they got them out of Rome. 

[From Plutarch's Life of Marcus Brutus.] 

About that time Brutus sent to pray Cassius to come to the city of 
Sardis, and so he did. Brutus, understanding of his coming, went to 
meet him with all his friends. There both their armies being armed, 
they called them both Emperors. Now as it commonly happened in 
great affairs between two persons, both of them having many friends 
and so many captains under them, there ran tales and complaints be- 
twixt them. Therefore, before they fell in hand with any other matter, 
they went into a little chamber together, and bade every man avoid, 
and did shut the doors to them. Then they began to pour out their 
complaints one to the other, and grew hot and loud, earnestly accusing 



INTRODUCTION. 15 

one another, and at length fell both a-weeping. Their friends that 
were without the chamber, hearing them loud within, and angry be- 
tween themselves, they were both amazed and afraid also, lest it would 
grow to further matter : but yet they were commanded that no man 
should come to them. Notwithstanding, one Marcus Phaonius, that 
had been a friend and a follower of Cato while he lived, and took upon 
him to counterfeit a philosopher, not with wisdom and discretion, but 
with a certain bedlem and frantic motion : he would needs come into 
the chamber, though the men offered to keep him out. . . . This Pha- 
onius at that time, in despite of the door-keepers, came into the cham- 
ber, and with a certain scoffing and mocking gesture, which he coun- 
terfeited of purpose, he rehearsed the verses which old Nestor said in 
Homer : 

" My lords, I pray you hearken both to me, 
For I have seen mo years than suchie three." 

Cassius fell a-laughing at him: but Brutus thrust him out of the 
chamber, and called him dog, and counterfeit cynic. Howbeit his 
coming in brake their strife at that time, and so they left each 
other. . . . The next clay after, Brutus, upon complaint of the Sar- 
dians, did condemn and note Lucius Pella for a defamed person, that 
had been a Praetor of the Romans, and whom Brutus had given charge 
unto : for that he was accused and convicted of robbery and pilfery in 
his office. This judgment much misliked Cassius, because he himself 
had secretly (not many days before) warned two of his friends, at- 
tainted and convicted of the like offences, and openly had cleared them : 
but yet he did not therefore leave to employ them in any manner of 
service as he did before. And therefore he greatly reproved Brutus, 
for that he would shew himself so straight [strait] and severe, in such 
a time as was meeter to bear a little than to take things at the worst. 
Brutus in contrary manner answered, that he should remember the 
Ides of March, at which time they slew Julius Caesar, who neither 
pilled nor polled the country, but only was a favourer and suborner of 
all them that did rob and spoil, by his countenance and authority. 
And if there were any occasion whereby they might honestly set aside 
justice and equity, they should have had more reason to have suffered 
Caesar's friends to have robbed and done what wrong and injury they 
had would [wished] than to bear with their own men. "For then," 
said he, " they could but have said we had been cowards, but now they 
may accuse us of injustice, beside the pains we take, and the danger 
we put ourselves into." And thus may we see what Brutus' intent 
and purpose was. . . . 

Brutus was a careful man, and slept very little, both for that his 
diet was moderate, as also because he was continually occupied. He 
never slept in the daytime, and in the night no longer than the time 
he was driven to be alone, and when everybody else took their rest. 



16 INTRODUCTION. 

But now whilst he was in war, and his head ever husily occupied to 
think of his affairs and what would happen, after he had slumbered a 
little after supper, he spent all the rest of the night in dispatching of 
his weightiest causes ; and after he had taken order for them, if he 
had any leisure left him, he would read some book till the third watch 
of the night, at what time the captains, petty captains, and colonels, 
did use to come to him. So, being ready" to go into Europe, one night 
very late (when all the camp took quiet rest) as he was in his tent 
with a little light, thinking of weighty matters, he thought he heard 
one come in to him, and casting his eye towards the door of his tent, 
that he saw a wonderful strange and monstrous shape of a body com- 
ing towards him, and said never a word. So Brutus boldly asked what 
he was, a god or a man, and what cause brought him thither? The 
spirit answered him, "I am thy evil spirit, Brutus: and thou shalt 
see me by the city of Philippes." Brutus being no otherwise afraid, 
replied again unto it : " Well, then I shall see thee again." The spirit 
presently vanished away : and Brutus called his men unto him, who 
told him that they heard no noise, nor saw anything at all. 



The next morning, by break of day, the signal of battle was set out 
in Brutus' and Cassius' camp which was an arming scarlet coat [a 
scarlet coat worn as armor'] : and both the chieftains spake together 
in the midst of their armies. There Cassius began to speak first, and 
said: "The gods grant us, O Brutus, that this day we may win the 
field, and ever after to live all the rest of our life quietly one with 
another. But sith the gods have so ordained it, that the greatest and 
chiefest things amongst men are most uncertain, and that if the battle 
fall out otherwise to-day than we wish or look for, we shall hardly 
meet again, what art thou then determined to do, to fly, or die?" 
Brutus answered him: "Being yet but a young man, and not over 
greatly experienced in the world, I trust 1 (I know not how) a certain 
rule of philosophy, by the which I did greatly blame and reprove Cato 
for killing himself, as being no lawful nor godly act, touching the gods : 
nor concerning men, valiant ; not to give place and yield to divine 
providence, and not constantly and patiently to take whatsoever it 
pleaseth him to send us, but to draw back and fly : but being now in 
the midst of the danger, I am of a contrary mind. For if it be not 
the will of God that this battle fall out fortunate for us, I will look no 
more for hope, neither seek to make any new supply for war again, 
but will rid me of this miserable world, and content me with my for- 
tune. For I gave up my life for my country in the Ides of March, 
for the which I shall live in another more glorious world." Cassius 

1 The past tense, trusted (Old English, truste), is evidently intended. 






INTRODUCTION. 17 

fell a-laughiiig to hear what he said, and embracing him, "Come on 
then," said he, "let us go and charge our enemies with this mind. 
For either we shall conquer, or we shall not need to fear the con- 
querors." After this talk, they fell to consultation among their friends 
for the ordering of the battle. 



So Cassius himself was at length compelled to fly, with a few about 
him, unto a little hill, from whence they might easily see what was 
done in all the plain: howbeit Cassius himself saw nothing, for his 
sight was very bad, saving that he saw (and yet with much ado) how 
the enemies spoiled his camp before his eyes. He saw also a great 
troupe of horsemen, whom Brutus sent to aid him, and thought that 
they were his enemies that followed him : but yet he sent Titinnius, 
one of them that was with him, to go and know what they were. 
Brutus 1 horsemen saw him coming afar off, whom when they knew 
that he was one of Cassius' chiefest friends, they shouted out for joy ; 
and they that were familiarly acquainted with him lighted from their 
horses, and went and embraced him. The rest compassed him in 
round about on horseback, with songs of victory and great rushing 
of their harness, so that they made all the field ring again for joy. 
But this marred all. For Cassius, thinking indeed that Titinnius was 
taken of the enemies, he then spake these words: "Desiring too much 
to live, I have lived to see one of my best friends taken, for my sake, 
before my face." After that, he got into a tent where nobody was, 
and took Pindarus with him, one of his bondsmen whom he reserved 
ever for such a pinch, since the cursed battle of the Parthians, where 
Crassus was slain, though he notwithstanding scaped from that over- 
throw: but then, casting his cloak over his head, and holding out his 
bare neck unto Pindarus, he gave him his head to be stricken off. So 
the head was found severed from the body : but after that time Pin- 
darus was never seen more. Whereupon some took occasion to say 
that he had slain his master without his commandment. By and by 
they knew the horsemen that came towards them, and might see 
Titinnius crowned with a garland of triumph, who came before with 
great speed unto Cassius. But when he perceived, by the cries and 
tears of his friends which tormented themselves, the misfortune that 
had chanced to his captain Cassius by mistaking, he drew out his 
sword, cursing himself a thousand times that he had tarried so long, 
and so slew himself presently in the field. Brutus in the mean time 
came forward still, and understood also that Cassius had been over- 
thrown : but he knew nothing of his death till he came very near to 
his camp. So when he was come thither, after he had lamented the 
death of Cassius, calling him the last of all the Romans, being un- 
possible that Rome should ever breed again so noble and valiant a man 



18 INTRODUCTION. 

as he, he caused his body to be buried, and sent it to the city of 
Thassos, fearing lest his funerals within his camp should cause great 
disorder. 



Now the night being far spent, Brutus as he sat bowed towards 
Clitus, one of his men, and told him somewhat in his ear: the other 
answered him not, but fell a-weeping. Thereupon he proved [spoke 
to] Dardanus, and said somewhat also to him : at length he came to 
Volumnius himself, and speaking to him in Greek, prayed him for 
the studies' sake which brought them acquainted together, that he 
would help him to put his hand to his sword, to thrust it in him to kill 
him. Volumnius denied his request, and so did many others : and 
amongst the rest, one of them said, there was no tarrying for them 
there, but that they must needs fly. Then Brutus, rising up, " We 
must fly indeed," said he, "but it must be with our hands, not with 
our feet.' 1 Then taking every man by the hand, he said these words 
unto them with a cheerful countenance : "It rejoiceth my heart, that 
not one of my friends hath failed me at my need, and I do not com- 
plain of my fortune, but only for my country's sake : for as for me, I 
think myself happier than they that have overcome, considering that 
I have a perpetual fame of our courage and manhood, the which our 
enemies the conquerors shall never attain unto by force or money ; 
neither can let [hinder] their posterity to say that they, being naughty 
and unjust men, have slain good men, to usurp tyrannical power not 
pertaining to them." Having said so, he prayed every man to shift 
for themselves, and then he went a little aside with two or three only, 
among which Strato was one, with whom he became first acquainted 
by the study of rhetoric. He came as near to him as he could, and 
taking his sword by the hilt with both his hands, and falling down 
upon the point of it, ran himself through. Others say that not he, but 
Strato (at his request) held the sword in his hand, and turned his head 
aside, and that Brutus fell down upon it, and so ran himself through, 
and died presently. 

Messala, that had been Brutus' great friend, became afterwards 
Octavius Caesar's friend ; so, shortly after, Caesar being at good leis- 
ure, he brought Strato, Brutus' friend, unto him, and weeping said : 
"Caesar, behold, here is he that did the last service to my Brutus." 
Caesar welcomed him at that time, and afterwards he did him as faith- 
ful service in all his affairs as any Grecian else he had about him, 
until the battle of Actium. 



INTRODUCTION. 19 

CRITICAL COMMENTS. 

(From Dr. Samuel Johnson' 1 s Edition, 17(35.) 

Of this tragedy many particular passages deserve regard, and the 
contention and reconcilement of Brutus and Cassius is universally 
celebrated ; but I have never been strongly agitated in perusing it ; 
and I think it somewhat cold and unaffecting, compared with some 
other of Shakespeare's plays. His adherence to the real story and to 
Roman manners seems to have impeded the natural vigour of his genius. 

(From Hazlitt's " Characters of Shakespeare' 1 s Plays" 1817.) 

The truth of history in Julius Caesar is very ably worked up with 
dramatic effect. The councils of generals, the doubtful turns of bat- 
tles, are represented to the life. The death of Brutus is worthy of 
him : it has the dignity of the Roman senator with the firmness of the 
Stoic philosopher. But what is perhaps better than either is the little 
incident of his boy Lucius falling asleep over his instrument, as he is 
playing to his master in his tent, the night before the battle. Nature 
had played him the same forgetful trick once before, on the night 
of the conspiracy. The humanity of Brutus is the same on both 
occasions. 

" It is no matter : 

Enjoy the heavy honey -dew of slumber. 

Thou hast no figures nor no fantasies, 

Which busy care draws in the brains of men, 

Therefore thou sleep'st so sound." 

(From Mrs. Jameson" 1 s " Characteristics of Women,''' 1 1832.) 

Almost every one knows by heart Lady Percy's celebrated address 
to her husband, beginning, 

" O, my good lord, why are you thus alone ? " * 

and that of Portia to Brutus, in Julius Caesar, 

"... You've ung-ently, Brutus, 
Stol'n from my bed." 

The situation is exactly similar, the topics of remonstrance are nearly 
the same ; the sentiments and the style as opposite as are the charac- 
ters of the two women. Lady Percy is evidently accustomed to win 
more from her fiery lord by caresses than by reason : he loves her in 
his rough way, "as Harry Percy's wife," but she has no real influ- 
ence over him ; he has no confidence in her. 

1 1 Henry IV, ii, :!. 



20 INTRODUCTION. 

" Lady Percy. . . . In faith, 

I'll know your business, Harry, that I will. 
I tear my brother Mortimer doth stir 
About this title, and hath sent for you 
To line his enterprise ; but if you go — 
Hotspur. So far afoot, I shall be weary, love ! " 

The whole scene is admirable, but unnecessary here, because it illus- 
trates no point of character in her. Lady Percy has no character, 
properly so called, whereas that of Portia is very distinctly and faith- 
fully drawn from the outline furnished by Plutarch. Lady Percy's 
fond upbraidings, and her half playful, half pouting entreaties, scarcely 
gain her husband's attention. Portia, with true matronly dignity and 
tenderness, pleads her right to share her husband's thoughts, and 
proves it too. 

"I grant, I am a woman, but, withal, 
A woman that Lord Brutus took to wife ; 
I grant, I am a woman, but, withal, 
A woman well reputed, Cato's daughter. 
Think you, 1 am no stronger than my sex, 
Being so father'd, and so husbanded ? 

Brutus. You are my true and honourable wife : 
As dear to me as are the ruddy drops 
That visit my sad heart ! " 

Portia, as Shakespeare has truly felt and represented the character, 
is but a softened reflection of that of her husband Brutus : in him we 
see an excess of natural sensibility, an almost womanish tenderness 
of heart, repressed by the tenets of his austere philosophy : a Stoic by 
profession, and in reality the reverse — acting deeds against his nature 
by the strong force of principle and will. In Portia there is the same 
profound and passionate feeling, and all her sex's softness and timid- 
ity held in check by that self-discipline, that stately dignity, which 
she thought became a woman "so father'd and so husbanded." The 
fact of her inflicting on herself a voluntary wound to try her own for- 
titude is perhaps the strongest proof of this disposition. Plutarch 
relates that on the day on which Caesar was assassinated, Portia 
appeared overcome with terror, and even swooned away, but did not 
in her emotion utter a word which could affect the conspirators. 
Shakespeare has rendered this circumstance literally. 

" Portia. I prithee, boy, run to the senate-house ; 
Stay not to answer me, but get thee gone. 
Why dost thou stay ? 

Lucius. To know my errand, madam. 

Portia. I would have had thee there and here again, 
Ere I ean tell thee what thou should'st do there. 

constancy ! be strong upon my side : 

Set a huge mountain 'tween my heart and tongue 1 

1 have a man's mind, but a woman's might. 
Ay me ! how weak a thing 

The heart of woman is ! 0, I grow faint," etc. 



INTRODUCTION. 21 

There is another beautiful incident related by Plutarch which could 
not well be dramatized. When Brutus and Portia parted for the last 
time in the island of Nisida, she restrained all expression of grief that 
she might not shake his fortitude ; but afterwards, in passing through 
a chamber in which there hung a picture of Hector and Andromache, 
she stopped, gazed upon it for a time with a settled sorrow, and at 
length burst into a passion of tears. 

If Portia bad been a Christian, and lived in later times, she might 
have been another Lady Russel ; but she made a poor Stoic. No fac- 
titious or external control was sufficient to restrain such an exuber- 
ance of sensibility and fancy ; and those who praise the philosophy of 
Portia, and the heroism of her death, certainly mistook the character 
altogether. It is evident, from the manner of her death, that it was 
not deliberate self-destruction, "after the high Roman fashion," but 
took place in a paroxysm of madness, caused by overwrought and 
suppressed feeling, grief, terror, and suspense. Shakespeare has thus 
represented it : 

"Bruttis. O Cassius, I am sick of many griefs ! 

Cassius. Of your philosophy you make no use, 
If you give place to accidental evils. 

Brutus. No man bears sorrow better. — Portia is dead. 

Cassius. Ha ! — Portia ? 

Brutus. She is dead. 

Cassius. How 'scap'd I killing, when I cross'd you so ? — 
O insupportable and touching loss ! — 
Upon what sickness ? 

Brutus. Impatient of my absence, 

And grief that young Octavius with Mark Antony 
Had made themselves so strong; — for with her death 
These tidings came. — With this she fell distract, 
And, her attendants absent, swallow'd Are." 

So much for woman's philosophy ! 

(From Knight's Pictorial Edition, 1839.) 

At the exact period of the action of this drama, Caesar, possessing 
the reality of power, was haunted by the weakness of passionately 
desiring the title of king. Plutarch says: "The chief est cause that 
made him mortally hated was the covetous desire he had to be called 
king." This is the pivot upon which the whole action of Shake- 
speare's tragedy turns. There might have been another method of 
treating the subject. The death of Julius Caesar might have been the 
catastrophe. The republican and monarchical principles might have 
been exhibited in conflict. The republican principle would have 
triumphed in the fall of Caesar ; and the poet would have previously 
held the balance between the two principles, or have claimed, indeed, 
our largest sympathies for the principles of Caesar and his friends, by 



22 INTRODUC TION. 

a true exhibition of Caesar's greatness and Caesar's virtues. The poet 
chose another course. And are we, then, to talk, with ready flip- 
pancy, of ignorance and carelessness — that he wanted classical knowl- 
edge — that he gave himself no trouble ? " The fault of the character 
is the fault of the plot," says Hazlitt. It would have been nearer the 
truth had he said, the character is determined by the plot. While 
Caesar is upon the scene, it was for the poet, largely interpreting the 
historian, to show the inward workings of " the covetous desire he 
had to be called king," and most admirably, according to our notions 
of characterization, has he shown them. 

(From UlricVs " Shakespeare's Dramatic Art ," translated 1847.) 

What can justify apparitions and spirits in an historical drama ? 
And in any case, why is it that the ghost of Caesar appears to Brutus, 
whose designs, apparently at least, are pure and noble, rather than 
to Cassius, his sworn enemy ? Because, though they appear to be 
such, they are not so in reality ; the design is not really pure which 
has for its first step so arrogant a violation of right. Moreover, Caesar 
had been more deeply wronged by Brutus than by Cassius. Brutus, 
like Coriolanus, had trampled under foot the tenderest and noblest 
affections of humanity for the sake of the phantom honour of free 
citizenship. Brutus, lastly, was the very soul of the conspiracy ; if 
his mental energies should be paralyzed, and his strong courage 
unnerved, the whole enterprise must fail. And so, in truth, it went 
to pieces, because it was against the will of history — that is, against 
the eternal counsels of God. It was to signify this great lesson that 
Shakespeare introduced the ghost upon the stage. Only once, and 
with a few pregnant words, does the spirit appear ; but he is con- 
stantly hovering in the background, like a dark thunder-cloud, and 
is, as it were, the offended and threatening spirit of history itself. 
It is with the same purpose that Shakespeare has introduced spectral 
apparitions into another of his historical pieces — Richard III. Both 
dramas belong to the same historical grade ; they both represent 
important turning points in the history of the world — the close of 
an old, and the commencement of a new state of things — and in 
such times the guiding finger of God is more obviously apparent than 
at others. 

(From Merivale's "History of the Romans under the Empire,''' 1 1802.) 

The Dictator had bequeathed to each citizen the sum of three 
hundred sesterces, or rather less than three pounds sterling. The 
money itself, indeed, was not forthcoming; for Antonius had already 
disposed of the whole treasure which had fallen into his hands. But 



INTRODUCTION. 23 

Octavius had not yet arrived to discharge his patron's legacies ; many 
formalities and some chances lay between the public avowal of these 
generous intentions and the claim for their actual fulfilment ; and 
Antonius in the meantime might turn to his own account the grateful 
acknowledgment of the people for a largess they might never be 
destined to enjoy. The bare recital of Caesar's testament operated 
on their feelings most favourably to his interests. Now for the fust 
time they were fully roused to a sense of their benefactor's wrongs. 
Now for the first time the black ingratitude of Decimus and the others, 
his confidants and his assassins, stood revealed in its hideous deform- 
ity. The sense of personal loss stifled every specious argument that 
could be advanced to extenuate the crime. The vindication of the 
laws, the assertion of liberty, the overthrow of a tyrant and a dynasty 
of tyrants, all sank at once before the paramount iniquity of destroy- 
ing the only substantial benefactor the Roman people had ever had. 
Many a magistrate or conqueror indeed had lavished shows and festi- 
vals upon them ; the city owed its noblest ornaments to the rivalry of 
suitors for popularity ; but these were candidates for honours and 
distinctions, and had all a personal object to serve ; while the bequest 
of the murdered Julius was deemed an act of pure generosity ; for the 
dead can have no selfish interests. 

The heralds proclaimed throughout the city the appointed place and 
hour of the obsequies. A funeral pyre was constructed in the Field 
of Mars, close to the spot where lay the ashes of Julia ; for the laws 
forbade cremation within the walls ; and the laws, enacted for pur- 
poses of health, were reinforced by feelings of superstition. But the 
funeral oration was to be pronounced in the Forum, and a temporary 
chapel, open on every side, modelled, it is said, after the temple of 
Venus the Ancestress, was erected before the rostra, and gorgeously 
gilded, for the reception of the body. The bier was a couch inlaid 
with ivory, and strewn with vestments of gold and purple. At its 
head was suspended, in the fashion of a warrior's trophy, the toga 
in which the Dictator had been slain, pierced through and through 
by the assassins' daggers. Calpurnius Piso walked at the head of the 
procession, as chief mourner ; the body was borne by the highest 
magistrates and most dignified personages of the State ; the people 
were invited to make oblations for the pyre, of garments, arms, 
trinkets, and spices. So great was the concourse of the offerers, that 
the order in which they were appointed to present themselves could 
not be preserved, but every one was allowed to approach the spot 
by whatever route he chose from every corner of the city. When the 
mangled. remains were deposited in their place, they were concealed 
from the gaze of the multitude ; but in their stead a waxen effigy was 
raised aloft, and turned about by machinery in every direction ; and 
the people could distinctly mark the three and twenty wounds repre- 



24 INTRODUCTION. 

sented faithfully upon it. Dramatic shows formed, as usual, a part 
of the ceremony. Passages from the Electro, of Atillius, and the 
Contest for the Arms of Achilles, a celebrated piece of Pacuvius, 1 
were enacted on the occasion. The murder of Agamemnon, and the 
requital of Ajax, who complained that in saving the Greeks he had 
saved his own assassins, furnished pungent allusions to the circum- 
stances of the time, and moved the sensibilities of an inflammable 
populace. 

While the feelings of the citizens were thus melting with compassion 
or glowing with resentment, Antonius came forward, as the first 
magistrate of the republic, to deliver the funeral eulogy due to the 
mighty dead. Historians and poets have felt the intense interest of 
the position he at that moment occupied, and have vied with each 
other in delineating with the nicest touches the adroitness he dis- 
played in guiding the passions of his audience. Suetonius indeed 
asserts that he added few words of his own to the bare recital of the 
decrees of the Senate, by which every honour, human and divine, 
had been heaped upon Caesar, and of the oath by which his destined 
assassins had bound themselves to his defence. But Cicero tells a 
different story. He speaks with bitter indignation of the praises, the 
commiseration, and the inflammatory appeals, which he interwove 
with the address. With such contemporary authority before us, we 
may believe that the speech reported by Appian is no rhetorical 
fiction, but a fair representation, both in manner and substance, of 
the actual harangue. The most exquisite scene in the truest of all 
Shakespeare's historical delineations adds little, except the charm of 
verse and the vividness of dramatic action, to the graphic painting 
of the original record. 

This famous speech was in fact a consummate piece of dramatic 
art. The eloquence of Antonius was less moving than the gestures 
which enforced it, and the accessory circumstances which he enlisted 
to plead on his behalf. He addressed himself to the eyes, no less 
than to the ears of his audience. He disclaimed the position of a 
panegyrist : his friendship with the deceased might render his testi- 
mony suspected. He was, indeed, unworthy to praise Caesar: the 
voice of the people alone could pronounce his befitting eulogy. He 
produced the Acts of the Senate, and of the faction by whose hands 
Caesar had fallen, as the vouchers of his assertions. These he recited 
with a voice tremulous with grief, and a countenance struggling with 
emotions. He read the decrees which had within a twelvemonth 
heaped honours upon Caesar, and which declared his person inviola- 
ble, his authority supreme, and himself the chief and father of his 
country. Were these honours excessive or dangerous to the State, 

1 Ablest of the tragic poets of Rome. Lived about B.C. 220-130. 



INTRODUCTION. 25 

the Senate had bestowed them : did they even trench upon the attri- 
butes of the gods, the pontiffs had sanctioned them. And when he 
came to the words consecrated, inviolable, father of his country, the 
orator pointed with artful irony to the bleeding and lifeless corpse, 
which neither laws nor oaths had shielded from outrage. He paused, 
and the dramatic chorus sent forth some ancient wail, such as ages 
before had been consecrated to the sorrows of heroes, who like Csesar 
had been kings of men, and of Houses which like the Julian had 
sprung from gods and goddesses. 

Then, from these examples of high fortune and its tragic issues, he 
passed on to recite the solemn oath by which the Senate, the nobles, 
and among them the conspirators themselves, had devoted their hearts 
and hands to their hero's defence ; and thereupon, turning with glow- 
ing emotion towards the temple of Jupiter, conspicuous on the Capitol, 
he exclaimed, "And I, for my part, am prepared to maintain my 
vow, to avenge the victim I could not save." Such words from the 
chief magistrate of the State were deeply impressive. The Senators 
scowled and murmured. Antonius pretended to check his impetuosity 
and address himself to soothing their alarm. After all, he said, it was 
not the work of men, it was the judgment of the gods. Caesar was too 
great, too noble, too far above the race of men, too nigh to the nature 
of the immortals, to be overthrown by any power but that of divinity 
itself. "Let us bow," he exclaimed, " to the stroke as mortal men. 
Let us bury the past in oblivion. Let us bear away these venerable 
remains to the abodes of the blessed, with due lamentations and de- 
served eulogies ! ' ' 

With these words the consummate actor girt his robes closely around 
him, and striding to the bier, with his head inclined before it, mut- 
tered a hymn to the body, as to the image of a god. In rapid verse or 
solemn modulated prose he chanted the mighty deeds and glories of 
the deceased, the trophies he had won, the triumphs he had led, the 
riches he had poured into the treasury. "Thou, Cresar, alone wast 
never worsted in battle. Thou alone hast avenged our defeats and 
wiped away our disgraces. By thee the insults of three hundred years 
stand requited. Before thee has fallen the hereditary foe who burned 
the city of our fathers." So did the Potitii 1 and Finarii l recite their 
hymns to Hercules : so did the frantic hierophant sing the praises of 
Apollo. The flamen of Julius seemed instinct with the inspiration of 
the altar and the tripod, while he breathed the fanatic devotion of the 
ancient faith. 

The blood-smeared image was turned this way and that for all eyes 
to gaze upon ; and, as it seemed to writhe in the agonies of death, the 

1 The names of two ancient Roman families who presided over the wor- 
ship of Hercules at Rome. 



26 INTRODUCTION. 

groans of men and the shrieks of women drowned the plaintive accents 
of the speaker. Suddenly Antonius raised the mangled garment which 
hung over the body itself, and waving it before the people disclosed 
the rents of the murderers' daggers. The excitement of the populace 
now became uncontrollable. Religious enthusiasm fanned the flame 
of personal sympathy. They forbade the body to be carried to the 
Field of Mars for cremation. Some pointed to the temple of Jupiter, 
where the effigy of the demi-god had been enthroned in front of the 
deity himself, and demanded that it should be burnt in the holy shrine, 
and its ashes deposited among its kindred divinities. The priests 
stepped forward to avert this profanation ; and it was then proposed to 
consume the body in the Pompeian Curia, whence the mighty spirit 
had winged its flight to the celestial mansions. 

Meanwhile chairs, benches, and tables had been snatched from the 
adjacent buildings, a heap of fuel was raised before the door of the 
pontifical mansion in the Forum, and the body snatched by tumultu- 
ary hands was cast upon it in a frenzy of excitement. Two young 
men, girt with swords, and javelin in hand, were seen to apply the 
torch. Such a vision had appeared in ancient times in the heat of 
battle. Castor and Pollux, it was believed, had descended more than 
once in human form to save the republic. A divine sanction was thus 
given to the deed : every scruple was overruled ; and it was resolved 
to consume the hero's remains in the heart of his own city. The peo- 
ple continued to pile up branches and brushwood ; the musicians and 
players added their costly garments to the heap, the veterans their 
arms, the matrons their ornaments ; even the trinkets which adorned 
the children's frocks were torn off, and offered in the blazing confla- 
gration. 

Caesar was beloved by the Romans ; he was not less dear to the 
foreigners who owed so much to his ascendency, and had anticipated 
so much more. Gauls, Iberians, Africans, and Orientals crowded in 
successive groups around the pyre, and gave vent to the sense of their 
common misfortune. Among them the Jews were eminently con- 
spicuous. Caesar was the only Roman who had respected their feel- 
ings and assured them of his sympathy. Many of this people continued 
for several nights to assemble with sorrow and resentment on the spot, 
and uttered another funeral dirge over the blighted hopes of their 
nation. 

While other illustrious men had been reported great for their excel- 
lence in some one department of human genius, it was declared by the 
concurrent voice of antiquity, that Caesar was excellent in all. He had 
genius, understanding, memory, taste, reflection, industry, and exact- 
ness. He was great, repeats a modern writer, in everything he under- 
took ; as a captain, a statesman, a lav-giver, a jurist, an orator, a 



INTRODUCTION. 27 

poet, an historian, a grammarian, a mathematician, and an architect. 
The secret of his manifold excellence was discovered by Pliny in the 
unparalleled energy of his intellectual powers, which he could devote 
without distraction to several objects at once, or rush at any moment 
from one occupation to another with the abruptness and rapidity of 
lightning. Csesar could be writing and reading, dictating and listening, 
all at the same time ; he was wont to occupy four amanuenses at once, 
and had been known, on occasions, to employ as many as seven to- 
gether. And, as if to complete the picture of the most perfect specimen 
of human ability, we are assured that in all the exercises of the camp, 
his vigour and skill were not less conspicuous. He fought at the most 
perilous moments in the ranks of the soldiers ; he could manage his 
charger without the use of reins ; and he saved his life at Alexandria 
by his address in the art of swimming. 

(From Gervinus''s "Shakespeare Commentaries,''' 1 translated 1863.) 

With what reverence Shakespeare viewed Csesar's character as a 
whole, we learn from several passages of his works, and even in this 
play from the way in which he allows his memory to be respected as 
soon as he is dead. In the descriptions of Cassius we look back upon 
the time when the great man was natural, simple, undissembling, pop- 
ular, and on an equal footing with others. Now he is spoiled by vic- 
tory, success, power, and by the republican courtiers who surround 
him. He stands close on the borders between usurpation and dis- 
cretion ; he is master in reality, and is on the point of assuming the 
name and the right ; he desires heirs to the throne ; he hesitates to 
accept the crown which he would gladly possess ; he is ambitious, and 
fears he may have betrayed this in his paroxysms of epilepsy ; he 
exclaims against flatterers and cringers, and yet both please him. All 
around him treat him as a master, his wife as a prince ; the senate 
allow themselves to be called his senate ; he assumes the appearance 
of a king even in his house ; even with his wife he uses the language 
of a man who knows himself secure of power ; and he maintains 
everywhere the proud, strict bearing of a soldier, which is represented 
even in his statues. If one of the changes at which Plutarch hints lay 
in this pride, this haughtiness, another lay in his superstition. In the 
suspicion and apprehension before the final step, he was seized, con- 
trary to his usual nature and habit, with misgivings and superstitious 
fears, which affected likewise the hitherto free-minded Calphurnia. 
These conflicting feelings divide him, his forebodings excite him, his 
pride and his defiance of danger struggle against them, and restore his 
former confidence, which was natural to him, and which causes 
his ruin ; just as a like confidence, springing from another source, 
ruined Brutus. 



28 INTRODUCTION. 

{From Crane's "English of Shakespeare,''' 1 1857.) 

The play might more fitly be called after Brutus than after Caesar. 
And still more remarkable is the partial delineation that we have of 
the man. We have a distinct exhibition of little else beyond his vanity 
and arrogance, relieved and set off by his good nature or affability. 
He is brought before us only as "the spoilt child of victory." All 
the grandeur and predominance of his character is kept in the back- 
ground, or in the shade — to be inferred, at most, from what is said 
by the other dramatis persona; — by Cassius on the one hand and by 
Antony on the other in the expression of their own diametrically 
opposite natures and aims, and in a very few words by the calmer, 
milder, and juster Brutus — nowhere manifested by himself. It might 
almost be suspected that the complete and full-length Caesar had been 
carefully reserved for another drama. Even Antony is only half 
delineated here, to be brought forward again on another scene : 
Caesar needed such reproduction much more, and was as well entitled 
to a stage which he should tread without an equal. He is only a sub- 
ordinate character in the present play ; his death is but an incident 
in the progress of the plot. The first figures, standing conspicuously 
out from all the rest, are Brutus and Cassius. 

(From Fronde'' s "Cwsar: A Sketch,'' 1 1878.) 

CESAR AND THE CONSPIRATORS. 

Sixty senators, in all, were parties to the immediate conspiracy. 
Of these, nine tenths were members of the old faction whom Caesar 
had pardoned, and who, of all his acts, resented most that he had been 
able to pardon them. Their motives were the ambition of their order 
and personal hatred of Caesar: but they persuaded themselves that 
they were animated by patriotism ; and as, in their hands, the Repub- 
lic had been a mockery of liberty, so they aimed at restoring it by a 
mock tyrannicide. Their oaths and their professions were nothing to 
them. If they were entitled to kill Caesar, they were entitled equally 
to deceive him. No stronger evidence is needed of the demoralization 
of the Roman Senate than the completeness with which they were able 
to disguise from themselves the baseness of their treachery. One man 
only they were able to attract into cooperation who had a reputation 
for honesty, and could be conceived, without absurdity, to be animated 
by a disinterested purpose. 

Marcus Brutus was the son of Cato's sister Servilia ; and although, 
under the influence of his uncle, he had taken the Senate's side in the 
war, he had accepted afterwards not pardon only from Caesar, but 
favours of many kinds, for which he had professed, and probably felt, 
some real gratitude. He had married Cato's daughter, Portia, and 



INTBODUCTION. 29 

on Cato's death had published a eulogy upon him. Caesar left him 
free to think and write what he pleased. He had made him Praetor ; 
he had nominated him to the governorship of Macedonia. Brutus 
was perhaps the only member of the senatorial party in whom Caesar 
felt genuine confidence. His known integrity, and Caesar's acknowl- 
edged regard for him, made his accession to the conspiracy an object 
of particular importance. The name of Brutus would be a guaranty 
to the people of rectitude of intention. Brutus, as the world went, 
was of more than average honesty. He had sworn to be faithful to 
Caesar, as the rest had sworn ; and an oath with him was not a thing 
to be emotionalized away : but he was a fanatical republican, a man 
of gloomy habits, given to dreams and omens, and easily liable to be 
influenced by appeals to visionary feelings. Caius Cassius, his brother- 
in-law, was employed to work upon him. Cassius, too, was Praetor 
that year, having been also nominated to office by Caesar. He knew 
Brutus, he knew where and how to move him. He reminded him of 
the great traditions of his name. A Brutus had delivered Pome from 
the Tarquins. The blood of a Brutus was consecrated to liberty. 
This, too, was mockery : Brutus, who expelled the Tarquins, had put 
his sons to death, and died childless : Marcus Brutus came of good 
plebeian family, with no glories of tyrannicide about them ; but the 
imaginary genealogy suited well with the spurious heroics which veiled 
the motives of Caesar's murderers. 

Brutus, once wrought upon, became with Cassius the most ardent 
in the cause, which assumed the aspect to him of a sacred duty. Be- 
hind them were the crowd of Senators of the familiar faction, and 
others worse than they, who had not even the excuse of having been 
partisans of the beaten cause ; men who had fought at Caesar's side 
till the war was over, and believed, like Labienus, that to them Caesar 
owed his fortune. One of these was Trebonius, who had misbehaved 
himself in Spain, and was smarting under the recollection of his own 
failures. Trebonius had been named by Caesar for a future consul- 
ship ; but a distant reward was too little for him. Another and yet a 
baser traitor was Decimus Brutus, whom Caesar valued and trusted 
beyond all his officers ; whom he had selected as guardian for Octa- 
vius, and had noticed, as was seen afterwards, with special affection 
in his will. The services of these men were invaluable to the conspir- 
ators on account of their influence with the army. Decimus Brutus, 
like Labienus, had enriched himself in Caesar's campaigns, and had 
amassed near half a million of English money. 

So composed was this memorable band, to whom was to fall the bad 
distinction of completing the ruin of the senatorial rule. Caesar would 
have spared something of it ; enough, perhaps, to have thrown up 
shoots again as soon as he had himself passed away in the common 
course of nature. By combining in a focus the most hateful charac- 



30 IN TROD UC TION. 

teristics of the order, by revolting the moral instincts of mankind by 
ingratitude and treachery, they stripped their cause of the false gla- 
mour which they hoped to throw over it. The profligacy and avarice, 
the cynical disregard of obligation, which had marked the Senate's 
supremacy for a century, had exhibited abundantly their unfitness for 
the high functions which had descended to them ; but custom, and 
natural tenderness for a form of government, the past history of which 
had been so glorious, might have continued still to shield them from 
the penalty of their iniquities. The murder of Caesar filled the meas- 
ure of their crimes, and gave the last and necessary impulse to the 
closing act of the revolution. 

Csesar was dead. But Csesar still lived. " It was not possible that 
the gi-ave should hold him." The people said that he was a god, and 
had gone back to Heaven, where his star had been seen ascending ; 
his spirit remained on Earth, and the vain blows of the assassins had 
been but " malicious mockery." " We have killed the king," exclaimed 
Cicero in the bitterness of his disenchantment, " but the kingdom is 
with us still " : " we have taken away the tyrant ; the tyranny survives." 

Csesar had not overthrown the oligarchy : their own incapacity, their 
own selfishness, their own baseness, had overthrown them. Caesar 
had been but the reluctant instrument of the Power which metes out 
to men the inevitable penalties of their own misdeeds. They had 
dreamt that the Constitution was a living force which would revive 
of itself as soon as its enemy was gone. They did not know that it 
was dead already, and that they had themselves destroyed it. The 
Constitution was but an agreement by which the Roman people had 
consented to abide for their common good. It had ceased to be for 
the common good. The experience of fifty miserable years had proved 
that it meant the supremacy of the rich, maintained by the bought 
votes of demoralized electors. The soil of Italy, the industry and 
happiness of tens of millions of mankind, from the Rhine to the Eu- 
phrates, had been the spoil of five hundred families and their relatives 
and dependents, of men whose occupation was luxury, and whose 
appetites were for monstrous pleasures. The self-respect of reason- 
able men could no longer tolerate such a rule in Italy or out of it. 

In killing Cfesar the Optimates had been as foolish as they were 
treacherous ; for Caesar's efforts had been to reform the Constitution, 
not to abolish it. The Civil War had risen from their dread of his 
second consulship, which they had feared would make an end of their 
corruptions ; and that the Constitution should be purged of the poison 
in its veins, was the sole condition on which its continuance was pos- 
sible. The obstinacy, the ferocity, the treachery of the aristocracy 
had compelled Caesar to crush them ; and the more desperate their 
straggles, the more absolute the necessity became. But he alone could 



INTRODUCTION. 31 

have restored as much of popular liberty as was consistent with the 
responsibilities of such a government as the Empire required. In 
Cresar alone were combined the intellect and the power necessary for 
such a work: they had killed him, and in doing so had passed final 
sentence on themselves. Not as realities any more, but as harmless 
phantoms, the forms of the old Republic were henceforth to persist. 

PERSONAL TRAITS OF CESAR. 

In person Caesar was tall and slight. His features were more 
refined than was usual in Roman faces ; the forehead was wide and 
high, the nose large and thin, the lips full, the eyes dark gray like an 
eagle's, the neck extremely thick and sinewy. His complexion was 
pale. His beard and moustache were kept carefully shaved. His hair 
was short and naturally scanty, falling off towards the end of his life, 
and leaving him partially bald. His voice, especially when he spoke 
in public, was high and shrill. His health was uniformly strong until 
his last year, when he became subject to epileptic fits. He was a 
great bather, and scrupulously clean in all his habits ; abstemious in 
his food, and careless in what it consisted ; rarely or never touching 
wine, and noting sobriety as the highest of qualities, when describing 
any new people. He was an athlete in early life, admirable in all 
manly exercises, and especially in riding. In Gaul he rode a remark- 
able horse, which he had bred himself, and which would let no one 
but Csesar mount him. From his boyhood it was observed that he 
was the truest of friends, that he avoided quarrels, and was most 
easily appeased when offended. In manner he was quiet and gentle- 
manlike, with the natural courtesy of high breeding. On an occasion 
when he was dining somewhere, the other guests found the oil too 
rancid for them : Ceesar took it without remark, to spare his enter- 
tainer's feelings. When on a journey through a forest with his friend 
Oppius, he came one night to a hut where there was a single bed. 
Oppius being unwell, Caesar gave it up to him, and slept on the 
ground. 

CAESAR AS A STATESMAN. 

Like Cicero, Caesar entered public life at the bar. He belonged by 
birth to the popular party, but he showed no disposition, like the 
Gracchi, to plunge into political agitation. His aims were practical. 
He made war only upon injustice and oppression; and, when he 
commenced as a pleader, he was noted for the energy with which he 
protected a client whom he believed to have been wronged. When 
he rose into the Senate, his powers as a speaker became strikingly 
remarkable. Cicero, who often heard him, and was not a favourable 
judge, said that there was a pregnancy in his sentences and a dignity 
in his manner which no orator in Rome could approach. But he never 



32 INTRODUCTION. 

spoke to court popularity : his aim from first to last was better gov- 
ernment, the prevention of bribery and extortion, and the distribution 
among deserving citizens of some portion of the public land which the 
rich were stealing. The Julian laws, which excited the indignation 
of the aristocracy, had no other objects than these ; and had they 
been observed they would have saved the Constitution. The purpose 
of government he conceived to be the execution of justice ; and a con- 
stitutional liberty under which justice was made impossible did not 
appear to him to be liberty at all. 

Caesar, it was observed, when anything was to be done, selected the 
man who was best able to do it, not caring particularly who or what 
he might be in other respects. To this faculty of discerning and 
choosing fit persons to execute his orders may be ascribed the extraor- 
dinary success of his own provincial administration, the enthusiasm 
which was felt for him in the North of Italy, and the perfect quiet of 
Gaul after the completion of the conquest. Caesar did not crush the 
Gauls under the weight of Italy. He took the best of them into the 
Roman service, promoted them, led them to associate the interests of 
the Empire with their personal advancement and the prosperity of then- 
own people. No act of Caesar's showed more sagacity than the intro- 
duction of Gallic nobles into the Senate ; none was more bitter to the 
Scipios and Metelli, who were compelled to share their august privileges 
with these despised barbarians. 

CESAR IN WAR. 

It was by accident that Csesar took up the profession of a soldier ; 
yet perhaps no commander who ever lived showed greater military 
genius. The conquest of Gaul was effected by a force numerically 
insignificant, which was worked with the precision of a machine. The 
variety of uses to which it was capable of being turned implied, in the 
first place, extraordinary forethought in the selection of materials. 
Men whose nominal duty was merely to fight were engineers, archi- 
tects, mechanics of the highest order. In a few hours they could 
extemporize an impregnable fortress on an open hillside. They 
bridged the Rhine in a week. They built a fleet in a month. The 
legions at Alesia held twice their number pinned within their works, 
while they kept at bay the whole force of insurgent Gaul, entirely by 
scientific superiority. 

The machine, which was thus perfect, was composed of human 
beings who required supplies of tools, and arms, and clothes, and 
food, and shelter ; and for all these it depended on the forethought of 
its commander. Maps there were none. Countries entirely unknown 
had to be surveyed ; routes had to be laid out ; the depths and courses 
of rivers, the character of mountain passes, had all to be ascertained, 



INTRODUCTION. 33 

Allies had to be found among tribes as yet unheard of. Countless 
contingent difficulties had to be provided for, many of which must 
necessarily arise, though the exact nature of them could not be 
anticipated. 

When room for accidents is left open, accidents do not fail to be 
heard of. But Csesar was never defeated when personally present, 
save once at Gergovia, and once at Durazzo : the failure at Gergovia 
was caused by the revolt of the JFAui ; and the maimer in which the 
failure at Durazzo was retrieved showed Cesar's greatness more than 
the most brilliant of his victories. He was rash, but with a calculated 
rashness, which the event never failed to justify. His greatest suc- 
cesses were due to the rapidity of his movements, which brought him 
on the enemy before they heard of his approach. He travelled some- 
times a hundred miles a day, reading or writing in his carriage, through 
countries without roads, and crossing rivers without bridges. No ob- 
stacle stopped him when he had a definite end in view. In battle he 
sometimes rode ; but he was more often on foot, bareheaded, and in 
a conspicuous dress, that he might be seen and recognized. Again 
and again by his own efforts he recovered a day that was half lost. 
He once seized a panic-stricken standard-bearer, turned him round, 
and told him that he had mistaken the direction of the enemy. He 
never misled his army as to an enemy's strength ; or, if he misstated 
their numbers, it was only to exaggerate. 

Yet he was singularly careful of his soldiers. He allowed his legions 
rest, though he allowed none to himself. He rarely fought a battle at 
a disadvantage. He never exposed his men to unnecessary danger ; 
and the loss by wear and tear in the campaigns in Gaul was exception- 
ally and even astonishingly slight. When a gallant action was per- 
formed, he knew by whom it had been done ; and every soldier, 
however humble, might feel assured that if he deserved praise he 
would have it. The army was Csesar's family. When Sabinus was 
cut off, he allowed his beard to grow, and he did not shave it till the 
disaster was avenged. If Quintus Cicero had been his own child, he 
could not have run greater personal risk to save him when shut up at 
Charleroy. In discipline he was lenient to ordinary faults, and not 
careful to make curious inquiries into such things. He liked his men 
to enjoy themselves. Military mistakes in his officers, too, he always 
endeavoured to excuse, never blaming them for misfortunes, unless 
there had been a defect of courage as well as judgment. Mutiny and 
desertion only he never overlooked. And thus no general was ever 
more loved by, or had greater power over, the army which served 
under him. 

His leniency to the Fompeian faction may have been politic, but it 
arose also from the disposition of the man. Cruelty originates in 
fear,. and Caesar was too indifferent to death to fear anything. So far 



34 INTRODUCTION. 

as his public action was concerned, he betrayed no passion save hatred 
of injustice ; and he moved through life calm and irresistible, like a 
force of Nature. 

CESAR AS AN AUTHOR. 

Cicero has said of Caesar's oratory, that he surpassed those who 
practised no other art. His praise of him as a man of letters is yet 
more delicately and gracefully emphatic. Most of his writings are 
lost ; but there remain seven books of Commentaries On the wars in 
Gaul, and three books upon the Civil War. Of these it was that 
Cicero said, in an admirable image, that fools might think to improve 
on them, but that no wise man would try it ; they were bare of orna- 
ment, the dress of style dispensed with, like an undraped human figure 
perfect in all its lines, as Nature made it. In his composition, as in 
his actions, Caesar is entirely simple. He indulges in no image, no 
laboured descriptions, no conventional reflections. His art is uncon- 
scious, as the highest art always is. The actual fact of things stands 
out as it really was, not as mechanically photographed, but interpreted 
by the calmest intelligence, and described with unexaggerated feeling. 
No military narrative has approached the excellence of the history of 
the war in Gaul. Nothing is written down which could be dispensed 
with ; nothing important is left untold ; while the incidents them- 
selves are set off by delicate and just observations on human character. 

The books on the Civil War have the same simplicity and clearness, 
but a vein runs through them of strong if subdued emotion. They 
contain the history of a great revolution related by the principal actor 
in it ; but no effort can be traced to set his own side in a favourable 
light, or to abuse or depreciate his adversaries. Caesar does not 
exult over his triumphs, or parade the honesty of his motives. The 
facts are left to tell their own story ; and the gallantry and endurance 
of his own troops are not related with more feeling than the contrast 
of the confident hopes of the patrician leaders at Pharsalia and the 
luxury of their camp with the overwhelming disaster which fell upon 
them. About himself and his own exploits there is not one word of 
self-complacency or self-admiration. In his writings, as in his life, 
Caesar is always the same, — direct, straightforward, unmoved save 
by occasional tenderness, describing with unconscious simplicity how 
the work which had been forced upon him was accomplished. He 
wrote with extreme rapidity in the intervals of other labour ; yet there 
is not a word misplaced, not a sign of haste anywhere, save that the 
conclusion of the Gallic war was left to be supplied by a weaker hand. 

{From Hudson's Introduction to the Play, 1878.) 

I have no doubt that Shakespeare perfectly understood the whole 
height and compass of Caesar's vast and varied capacity. And I some- 



INTRODUCTION. 35 

times regret that he did not render him as he evidently saw him, inas- 
much as he alone, perhaps, of all the men who ever wrote could have 
given an adequate expression of that colossal man. And this seeming 
contradiction between Caesar as known and Caesar as rendered by him, 
is what, more than anything else in the drama, perplexes me. But 
there is, I think, a very refined, subtle, and peculiar irony pervading 
this, more than any other of the poet's plays ; not intended as such, 
indeed, by the speakers, but a sort of historic irony — the irony of 
Providence, so to speak, or, if you please, of fate ; much the same as 
is implied in the proverb, " A haughty spirit goes before a fall." This 
irony crops out in many places. Thus we have Caesar most blown 
with self-importance and godding it in the loftiest style when the 
daggers of the assassins are on the very point of leaping at him. So, 
too, all along, we find Brutus most confident in those very things where 
he is most at fault, or acting like a man " most ignorant of what he's 
most assured " ; as when he says that Antony " can do no more than 
Caesar's arm when Caesar's head is off." This, to be sure, is not 
meant ironically by him ; but it is turned into irony by the fact that 
Antony soon tears the cause of the conspirators all to pieces with his 
tongue. So, again, of the passage where Cassius mockingly gods 
Caesar ; the subsequent course of events has the effect of inverting his 
mockery against himself. . . . 



... It may well be thought that Caesar was too great for the hero of 
a drama, since his greatness, if brought forward in full measure, would 
leave no room for anything else, at least would preclude any proper 
dramatic balance and equipoise. It was only as a sort of underlying 
potency, or a force withdrawn into the background, that his presence 
was compatible with that harmony and reciprocity of several charac- 
ters which a well-ordered drama requires. At all events, it is pretty 
clear that, where he was, such figures as Brutus and Cassius could 
never be very considerable, save as his assassins. They would not 
have been heard of in our day, if they had not "struck the foremost 
man of all this world." Now, in the drama, whatever there was in 
Brutus and Cassius that was noble, and there was much that was noble 
in them, has a full and fair showing ; and if Caesar is sacrificed to 
them, the reason may be that there was more danger of doing injus- 
tice to them than to him, inasmuch as Caesar could better take care 
of himself. 

{From Edward Dowden, LL.D., 1879.) 

Everything in the play of Julius C'cesar is wrought out with great 
care and completeness ; it is well planned and well proportioned ; 
there is no tempestuousness of passion, and no artistic mystery. The 



36 INTRODUCTION. 

style is full but not overburdened with thought or imagery : this is 
one of the most perfect of Shakespeare's plays ; greater tragedies are 
less perfect, perhaps for the very reason that they try to grasp greater, 
more terrible, or more piteous themes. 

In King Henry V Shakespeare had represented a great and heroic 
man of action. In the serious plays, which come next in chronologi- 
cal order, Julius Caesar and Hamlet, the poet represents two men 
who were forced to act — to act in public affairs and affairs of life and 
death — yet who were singularly disqualified for playing the part of 
men of action. Hamlet cannot act because his moral energy is sapped 
by a kind of scepticism and sterile despair about life ; because his 
own ideas are more to him than deeds ; because his will is diseased. 
Brutus does act, but he acts as an idealistic and theorist might, with 
no eye for the actual bearing of facts, and no sense of the true 
importance of persons. \ Intellectual doctrines and moral ideals rule 
the life of Brutus ; and his life is most noble, high, and stainless, but 
his public action is a series of practical mistakes. Yet even while 
he errs, we admire him ; for all his errors are those of a pure and 
lofty spirit. He fails to see how full of power Antony is ; because 
Antony loves pleasure, and is not a Stoic, like himself ; he addresses 
calm arguments to the excited Roman mob ; he spares the life of 
Antony, and allows him to address the people ; he advises ill in 
military matters. All the practical gifts, insight and tact, which 
Brutus lacks, are possessed by Cassias ; but of Brutus' moral purity, 
veneration of ideals, disinterestedness, and freedom from unworthy 
personal motive, Cassius possesses little. And the moral power of 
Brutus has in it something magisterial, which enables it to oversway 
the practical judgment of Cassius. In his wife — Cato's daughter, 
Portia — Brutus has found one who is equal to and worthy of himself. 
Shakespeare has shown her as perfectly a woman — sensitive, finely- 
tempered, tender — yet a woman who, by her devotion to moral ideals, 
might stand beside such a father and such a husband. And Brutus, 
with all his stoicism, is gentle and tender ; he can strike down Caesar, 
if Caesar be a tyrant, but he cannot roughly rouse a sleeping boy 
(Act IV, sc. iii, 2(58). 

Antony is a man of genius, with many splendid and some generous 
qualities, but self-indulgent, pleasure-loving, and a daring adventurer 
rather than a great leader of the State. 

The character of Caesar is conceived in a curious and almost irritat- 
ing manner. Shakespeare (as passages in other plays show) was 
certainly not ignorant of the greatness of one of the world's greatest 
men. But here it is his weaknesses that are insisted on. He is fail- 
ing in body and mind, influenced by superstition, yields to flattery, 
thinks of himself as almost superhuman, has lost some of his insight 
into character, and his sureness and swiftness of action. Yet the 



INTRODUCTION. 37 

play is rightly named Julius Ccvsar. His bodily presence is weak, 
but his spirit rules throughout the play, and rises after his death in 
all its might, towering over the little band of conspirators, who at 
length fall before the spirit of Ctesar as it ranges for revenge. 

(From Morlerfs Introduction to the Play, 1886.) 

Shakespeare's Julius Ccesar is a play of government, but it is not 
enough merely to say that it represents government in its chief forms. 
The sweep of the story brings before us — in Rome the centre of old 
rule — unstable populace, democratic tribunes, republicans in their 
two main types, as the practical republican whose thought is for him- 
self, and the philosophical, whose thought is for the world ; it paints 
feeble man in greed of the empire, and tyrannicide as worse than 
fruitless ; shows oligarchy risen from the ruins with a tyranny far 
greater than that from which the bare mistrust had caused escape to 
be sought by murder ; it paints civil war, and includes f oreshadowings 
of the disunion between chiefs of equal power. Their strife is shown 
in the play of Antony and Cleopatra, that continues the sequence of 
events to the final triumph of Octavius. 

There is all this, no doubt, furnishing material for the two stories ; 
and Shakespeare, as in preceding plays, made use of the historical 
groundwork as a parable against sedition and a warning of the ills of 
civil war, while the direct human interest, the centre of action, might 
lie in something else. So in this pair of plays, one, Antony and Cleo- 
patra, has its centre in the house of the strange woman by whom 
many strong men have been slain. But in Julius Caisar the centre 
of human interest is the centre also of the question of government. 
Religious men, opposed to her in faith, had more than once plotted the 
assassination of Elizabeth ; and that the death of the childless queen 
might, whenever it happened, bring on another contest for the crown, 
was in the latter years of Elizabeth's reign widely feared. Rut a true 
dramatist like Shakespeare will never place the point of unity, the 
centre of crystallization, so to speak, with which every line in a good 
play, poem, picture, statue, song, or whatever else may claim to be a 
work of art, has its relation, in anything so abstract and impersonal 
as the mere conception of government. The central thought of a play 
of Shakespeare's is to be found always in some one human truth that 
strikes home to the soul of some one man, through whom it passes 
insensibly into the souls of all who have been interested in his 
story. 

Which, then, of the persons in this play of Julius Ccesar is the one 
upon whom Shakespeare seeks especially to fix attention ? Beyond 
question, it is Brutus. The centre of interest will lie in him. Shun- 
ning, as we must always, the paths of dry speculation which invariably 



38 INTRODUCTION. 

lead those who follow them to deserts far away from Shakespeare's 
track, we ask, as we must always, what is the most direct and obvious 
source of our strong human interest in the person whose fortunes are 
most continuously and visibly affected by the action of the plot. 
Brutus is represented as a man gentle and noble in the best sense of 
each word, the most perfect character in Shakespeare, but for one 
great error in his life. All Rome had so much faith in his unblemished 
honour, that the conspirators who had determined to strike down Caesar 
by assassination in the hour when he was about to grasp the sole 
dominion of Home, strongly desired companionship of Brutus to give 
to their deed colour of right, and win for it more readily the assent of 
the people. There is in the blood of Brutus a love of liberty so strong 
that it is a virtue tending to excess. Upon this and upon his unselfish 
concern for the common good, his brother-in-law Cassius works, and 
by his working sways the scales of judgment, and leads Brutus to do 
evil that good may come of it. Not for ill done, but for mistrust of 
what might come, with no motive but the highest desire for his country's 
good, with no personal grudge in his heart, but a friend's affection for 
the man he struck, Brutus took part in an assassination. Portents are 
so inwoven with the action of the play as to suggest the presence of 
the gods in the affairs of men. The stroke that was to free Rome from 
a possible tyranny gave three tyrants for one, civil war for peace, 
and sent to a cruel death, by self-murder, the faithful wife who was 
dear to Brutus as the ruddy drops that visited his sad heart. The 
spirit of Csesar haunted Brutus as his evil spirit, and the last cry at 
Philippi was, "0 Julius Caasar, thou art mighty yet!" as Caesar's 
chief assassins were dying by their own hands on the swords that 
stabbed him. 

(From K. Deightoii's Introduction to the Play, 1890.) 

It will be well to consider the point of view from which Shakespeare 
intended to show us Julius Caesar. For, as here shown, he is in no 
wise the Julius Caesar of the poet's conception in others of his plays, 
in no wise the Julius Caesar of history or tradition when in the fulness 
of his splendid achievements he dazzled the world. It is his littleness, 
not his grandeur ; his personal defects ; his moral weaknesses ; his 
superstition ; his boastful language, not his stern simplicity ; his doubts 
and fears, no't his calm decision and unflinching courage ; which are 
here brought out with persistent and constant emphasis. Moreover, 
though the play is called after his name, Caesar appears in three scenes 
only, and dies at the beginning of the third act. Brutus, on the other 
hand, is prominent throughout, and all that is noble, heroic, and lov- 
able in his character is shown us with abundant power and clearness. 
... It is to be noticed that Shakespeare had authority from Plutarch 



INTRODUCTION. 39 

and Suetonius for the change which came over Caesar's character in 
his later days ; and to a consciousness of physical weakness and wan- 
ing powers of the mind we may no doubt ascribe those failings which 
have already been noticed. 

{From II. C. Beeching's Introduction to the Play, 1890.) 

We are summoned by the title to the play of Julius Coesar, and when 
we look "an old man cometh up." But as we listen, it is the familiar 
voice that speaks. He crosses the stage twice ; each time the first 
word he utters is just a quiet word of summons, in the perfectly calm 
tone of a man who is always obeyed — "Calpurnia," "Antonius." 
Each time we notice that his eye, however apparently filmed over with 
infirmity and conceit, is really as penetrating as ever. Of the Sooth- 
sayer his judgment is, " He is a dreamer," as he was ; but of men like 
Cassius, "and therefore are they very dangerous." But while we 
notice this, we cannot help recognizing also an aloofness from men, as 
of the centre of a system from the satellites whom it attracts and re- 
pels. Not only are all else conscious of his greatness — his wife, his 
court, " his senate " — but he is conscious of it. He worships among 
the rest. He speaks of his name as something set firm and sure above 
chance and change. We notice also that " he is superstitious grown 
of late." He bids Calpurnia stand in Antony's way at the Xupercalia ; 
he sends to the augurs to know if the omens are favourable. And yet 
this is not allowed to interfere with his considered action. There is 
no doubt he is very nervous. He is growing old ; he does not feel the 
same buoyancy and happy confidence in his fortune ; but he will not 
for all that be false to himself. Whether the "ceremonies" affect all 
the world or himself only, if something is fated, it is fated ; being a 
coward will not alter it. And though the voice that speaks is trem- 
bling, it is the real Caesar who speaks. 

The last scene in which he appears in the flesh is admirably con- 
trived as a climax. He is all but king, and his sense of his own great- 
ness is at the full. We see him at his worst. Still there is not want- 
ing a kingly grace. (" What touches us ourself shall be last served.' 1 ' 1 ) 
And though his words are big (" Hence, wilt thou lift up Olympus ?") 
they are in no sense the words of an arbitrary tyrant. It is as the 
incarnation of right judgment become law that Caesar has such rever- 
ence for himself. (" Thy brother by decree is banished.' 1 ' 1 " But I 
am constant as the northern star.' 1 ' 1 ) We feel, therefore, that Caesar's 
infirmities, infirm as they may be, are of the flesh, not of the spirit. 



40 



INTRODUCTION. 



CHRONOLOGICAL OZESAK. 



Csesar's 



Date 
B.C. 



His father had heen praetor. Father's sister was wife 

of the elder Marias. 
Birth (according to Anthon, July 10), according to the 100 : 

common account, duly 12. 

13 Assumed the toga virilis 87 

14 Flamen Dialis. Priest of Jupiter 86 

16 Married Cornelia, daughter of Cornelius China, the 84 

Dictator. 

Commanded by Sulla to divorce his wife, he refused, 
was deprived of his priesthood, of wife's dower 
and inheritance. 

Was proscribed. Fled from Rome. Was concealed 82 

among the Sabines. Went to Nicomedes, king of 
Bithynia. Served with distinction in the Roman 
army in Cilicia. Commanded fleet that blockaded 
Mitylene, and at the storming of the city won the 
crown of oak leaves for personal bravery. 

21 On the death of Sulla, returned to Rome 79 

23 Prosecuted Dolabella for corrupt practices as governor. 77 

Started for Rhodes to study oratory under Cicero's 76 

instructor, Apollonius Molo, and was captured by 
the pirates. Prisoner a month at Pharmacusa till 
ransomed by the payment of 50 talents. 

Manned Milesian vessels, captured and crucified the 
pirates. 

Returned to Rome 

Elected Military Tribune. 

Aided in overthrowing Sulla's constitution .... 70 

Elected Quaestor for farther Spain. Wife died ... 68 

Married Pompeia, cousin of Pompey the Great, grand- 67 

daughter of Sulla. 
;; 4 Supported the Lex Manilla 66 

Became Gurule JEdile. With the wealthy Bibulus. 65 

Exhibited great games. 

Pompeius was in the East. Caesar restored to the 
Capitol the statues and trophies of Marius. Op- 
posed and punished the agents of the Sulla faction. 

Elected I'mit/fex Muximus (over Catulus, candidate 64 

of the aristocracy). 

Cicero Consul. Conspiracy of Catiline. Cresar opposed 63 

sentence of death without trial. His life threatened. 



1 Mommsen says 102 B.C. 



INTRODUCTION. 



41 



chronological — C/ESAR (continued) . 



Date 
B.C. 



Became Praetor. Affair of Bona Dea and Clodius. 62 

Divorced. 

Propraetor in Spain, notwithstanding adverse decree 
of the Senate. 

Was granted a triumph, hut not permitted to stand for 
the consulship while absent. 

Elected Consul with L. Calpurnius GO 

Coalition with Pompey and Crassus. Married Calpu* — f'59 
nia. Gave his daughter Julia in marriage to 
Pompey. Proposed and carried an agrarian law 
against the opposition of Bibulus. Senate decreed 
to him for 5 years the government of Transalpine 
and Cisalpine Gaul and lllyricum, with 3 legions. 

Went in the spring as Proconsul to Gaul. Victorious 58 

campaign against the Helvetians and the German 
Ariovistus before winter. 

Campaign against the Belgae. Subdued the nations 
between the Rhine and the Seine. 

Overran nearly all the rest of Gaul. Coalition re- 56 

arranged at Lucca with Pompey and Crassus for 
another 5 years. 

Surprised and vanquished two powerful hostile Ger- 55 

man tribes. Bridged the Rhine. Invaded Britain. 

Again invaded Britain. Defeated Cassivelaunus. 54 

Daughter Julia, Pompey's wife, died. 

Suppressed revolt among the Gallic nations. Defeated 
the Eburones under Ambiorix. Crassus defeated 
and slain by the Parthians. Caesar remained in 
Gaul through the winter. 

Suppressed the general insurrection of the Gauls led 
by Vercingetorix. Captured Alesia. 

Completed the pacification of Gaul. Pompey left 
Caesar and joined the aristocratic party. 

Senate ordered, but the Tribune Curio vetoed the 
order, that Caesar resign his command. Caesar 
offered to do it, if Pompey would do the same. 
Both ordered to furnish a legion. Caesar obeyed, 
and gave back a legion to Pompey. Two legions 
taken from Caesar. On motion of Scipio, Senate 
ordered Caesar to disband his army or he held an 
enemy of the Republic. The decree was vetoed by 
the Tribunes Antony and Cassius. 



42 



INTRODUCTION. 



chronological. — cjesar (continued). 



Caesar's 



Date 
B.C. 



51 

52 

53 
5-t 

55 
56 



With 5000 infantry and 300 cavalry, he crossed the 
Rubicon. Civil war begun. Entered Rome. 
Crossed to Spain. Desperate righting. Forty 
days iu Spain. Reduced Massilia (Marseilles). 
Returned to Rome. Eleven days in Rome ? Ap- 
pointed, by Praetor Lepidus, Dictator I. 

Defeated Pompey at Pharsalus, August 9. Was shocked 
and affected to tears at sight of the murdered 
Pompey's head. Went to Egypt. Dictator II. 
Regulated affairs in Egypt. 

Sailed against Pharnaces. Seut back dispatch, Vcni, 
vidi, vici, from Pontus. Returned to Rome in 
September. Dictator III. 

Passed over to Africa. Victory, April 6, over Cato 
and Scipio. Returned to Rome in July. Dicta- 
tor IV. Proclaimed general amnesty. Reformed 
the Senate, the social and political morals, the 
Calendar. Projected great enterprises. 

Passed to Spain to crush revolt led by Pompey's sons. 
Victory at Munda. March 17- Returned to Rome 
in September. Dictator for Life. 

Prepared to go to Parthia. Assassinated March 15. 
("The most brutal and the most pathetic scene that 
profane history has to record. It was, as Goethe 
has said, the most senseless deed that ever was 
done." — Win. Warde Fowler.) 



INTRODUCTION. 43 



EXPLANATIONS. 

Abbott— the Shakespearian Grammar of Dr. E. A. Abbott, 3d edi- 
tion, 1873. 
A. S. = Anglo Saxon. 
Bae. Es. = Bacon's Essays. 

Bracket ~ A. Bracket's Etymological French Dictionary. 
Cent. Diet. = Century Dictionary. 
Class- Diet. = Classical Dictionary. 
Craik = Craik's English of Shakespeare. 
Cf. = confer — compare. 
Coll. = Collier. 
Dan. = Danish. 
Dyce = Dyce's edition. 
Ency. Brit. = Encyclopedia Britannica. 
Faerie Q. = Spenser's Faerie Queene. 
Furness = Fnrness's Variorum edition. 
Fr. = French, or from. 
Gall. = Gallic. 
Ger. — German. 
Gr. = Greek. 

Hudson = Hudson's Shakespeare. 
Id. = the same. 
Icel. = Icelandic. 

Int. Diet. — Webster's International Dictionary. 
Masterpieces = Sprague's Masterpieces in the English Language. 
0. E. or Old Eng. = Old English. 
0. H. G. = Old High German. 
Plutarch = PlutarcWs Lives. 
Q. v. = quod vide = which see. 
Shakes. — Shakespeare'' s Works. 
Skeat = Skeat's Etymological Dictionary. 
Web. or Webster = Webster's Dictionary. 
Wedgwood = Wedgwood's Dictionary of English Etymology. 
Worcester = Worcester's New Etymological Dictionary, 1888. 

The abbreviations of the titles of the plays will be readily under- 
stood ; thus, A. and C, or Ant. and Cleop. = Antony and Cleopatra; 
Trail, and C, or T. and C. = Troilus and Cressida; etc. 



DRAMATIS PERSONS. 



/Julius Cesar. 

Octavius C;ESAR, -I 
Marcus Antonius, I 
M. TEmilius Lepidus, J 

«/Cicero, -I 

/Publius, I Senators. 

Popilius Lena, J 
,/Marcus Brutus, 

Cassius, 



Triumvirs 

after the 

death of 

Julius Csesar. 



Conspirators 
against 

Julius Csesar, 



«Casca, 
Trebonius, 

y£,IUARIUS, 

/ Dflcrcs Brutus, 
vMetellus Cimber, 

ClNNA, 

^Flavius and ]\iarullus, Tribunes. 
Artemidorus, of Cnidos, a teacher of 
rhetoric. 



A Soothsayer. 

Cinna, a poet. Another Poet. 

Lucilius, 

Titinius, Friends to Brutus 



and Cassius. 



Servants to 
Brutus. 



Messala, 

Young Cato, 

volumnius, 

Varro, 

Clitus, 

Claudius, 

Strato, 

Lucius, 

Darb-anius, 

Pindarus, Servant to Cassius. 

Calpurnia, Wife to Csesar. 

Portia, Wife to Brutus. 

Senators, Citizens, Guards, Attend- 
ants, etc. 



Scene, during a great part of the play, at Rome; afterwards near 
Sardis, and the neighborhood of Philippi. 



JULIUS CiESAE. 



ACT I. 

Scene I. Rome. A Street. 

Enter Flavius, Marullus, and certain Commoners. 

Flavius. Hence ! home, you idle creatures, get you home ! 
Is this a holiday ? What ! know you not, 
Being mechanical, you ought not walk 
Upon a laboring day without the sign 
Of your profession ? — Speak, what trade art thou ? 5 

Act I. Scene I. 2. holiday. Flavins and Marullus were tribunes of 
the people. Elected to defend the plebeians against the patricians, do they 
seem to have felt themselves privileged to scold their proteges? — Holi- 
day. A. S. hal, whole, with suffix -ig (=modern Eng. ?/). So the orig. 
sense [cf. holi-] is perfect, or excellent. Skeat. A. S.dseg = day, a differ- 
ent root from the Latin dies. Skeat. — Historical connection between 
' holiday ' and ' holy day ' ? — What date ? See line 67. — 3. mechanical 
= mechanics [Hudson] ? living by handicrafts? — In Mid. N. Bream, III, 
ii, 9, we find 'rude mechanicals.' North's translation of Plutarch, from 
which Shakes, drew copiously, has 'cobblers, tapsters, or such like me- 
chanical people.' Does Shakes, think kindly of mechanics? See 2 Henry 
IV, V, v, 36; Ant. and Cleop. V, ii, 209; L'oriol. V, iii, s:>. —ought no't> 
walk. Only here in Shakes, is 'to' omitted before the infinitive after 
'ought.' The ellipsis still occurs after bid, dare, feel, hare (as, "Would 
you have me work?"), hear, help, let, make, need,- see; also do, may, 
can, will, shall, must. Ought, of course, is the old past tense of owe. 
Abbott, 394; Craik, 131, 132, 133. — 4. laboring. Note the difference 
between the present participle used actively, and the verbal noun {i.e. 
gerund) used adjectively. Iu Early Eng. the pres. active particip. ended 
in -ande, -and, -end, or -hide; but the verbal noun (or gerund) ended in 
-ing or -ung. Before the year 1300, the ending -tug began to supersede the 
others, and finally it displaced them all. The poet Wordsworth stoutly 
condemns this gerundial use. For example, he would not tolerate such 
expressions as 'church-going bell.' Rightly? May we say 'waiting- 
room,' 'writing-desk,' 'laboring day'? use hyphen in such words? — 
5. profession. Now used of handicraft ? Was there really such a re- 
straint on Roman laborers ? — trade = tradesman, kind of tradesman 
[Craik]? occupation (of understood)? Abbott, 202; Craik, p. 138. See 
line 14. — thou. Thou (so thy) was used colloquially, as by a father to his 

45 



46 JULIUS C/ESAR. [ACT I. 

Car. Why, sir, a carpenter. 

Marullus. Where is thy leather apron and thy rule ? 
What dost thou with thy best apparel on ? — 
You, sir, what trade are you ? 

Cob. Truly, sir, in respect of a fine workman, 10 

I am but, as you would say, a cobbler. 

Marullus. But what trade art thou? answer me directly. 

Cob. A trade, sir, that, I hope, I may use with a sale 
conscience ; which is, indeed, sir, a mender of bad soles. 

Flew. What trade, thou knave '.' thou naughty knave, 15 
What trade ? 

Cob. Nay, I beseech you, sir, be not out with me : yet, if 
you be out, sir, I can mend you. 

Flav. What mean'st thou by that ? mend me, thou sancy 
fellow ! 

Cob. Why, sir, cobble you. 20 

child. But, too often, human nature will not bear close inspection ; " famil- 
iarity breeds contempt " ; and so thou and thy came to imply disrespect, or 
an imputation of inferiority ? You was respectful ? See Abbott, 'I'M , 232. 
Thus Judge Jeffreys to Richard Baxter, " Ah, Richard, Richard, thou art 
an old feilow and an old boy ! [I will thou thee] Thou hast written as 
many books as would load a cart!" See Twelfth X., Ill, ii, 41, 42.— 
7. apron, etc. ' Mechanic slaves with ureasy aprons, rules, and hammers,' 
Ant. and Cleop., V, ii, 209, 210. — 9. You, sir. Why not thou ? Sir is 
respectful? — 10. respect of = comparison with [Wright]? contradistinc- 
tion from? if we speak of? as regards? As You Like It, III, ii, GO. — 

11. cobbler. Lat. co, con, com, cum, together; apere, to lit; aptus, 
fitted, apt, copula, a band, bond, link; copulate, to hind or join together; 
O. Fr. coble.r, coubler, to couple. How came cobbler to be equivalent to 
botcher or bungler ? Line 70. — Which, ' tine,' or ' workman,' should have 
the 'circumflex slide' conveying the baffling tone of mockery or jest? — 

12. directly = straightforwardly [Hudson, Wright, etc.] ? explicitly 
[Rolfe] ? without ambiguity [Beeching] ? immediately ? — Lat. di, apart; 
reqere to control, rule: dirigZre, to straighten; directus, straight. — 13. A 
trade, sir, etc. ' Spoken with a sanctimonious snuffle ' [March] ? Is the 
mocking ' circumflex ' to be heard on the first syllable of 'conscience'? — 
14. soles. ' An immemorial quibble ' [Craik] ? See our ed. of Mer. of 
Yen., IV, i, IIS. Would the pun be recognizable if 'sole' and 'soul' in 
•Not on thy sole [folio ' soale '] . but on thy soul' [folio ' soule '] were 
sounded exactly alike? White affirms that Hamlet's ' Oh, my prophetic 
soul, my uncle,' was in Shakespeare's time, 'Oh, mee prophetic sowl [ou 
as in sound], nice ooncle ' ! — 15. knave. A. S. cnafa; Ger. knabe, boy; 
A. S. cnap, knobby, stout. Was it total depravity, inherent in ' knobby ' 
boys, that gave the word an unfavorable sense? See lines 20, 70. — 
naughty = good for naught, utterly worthless. Stronger word in Shake- 
speare's time than now? See our ed. of Mer. of Yen., Ill, ii, 18; iii, 9. 

— 17. out . . . out. Pun? Out = out of patience? in a quarrel? out at 
toes or heels? Shakes, has the phrases ' out at heels,' and ' out at elbows.' 

— See " Launcelot and I are out," Mer. of Ven., Ill, v, 24, 25: Carleton's 
'Betsey and I are out.' So the old phrase 'put out,' and 'fall out.' — 
18. saiicy. Lat. sal, salt; salsa, a salted thing; saucy, full of salt, pun- 



SCENE I.] JULIUS CAESAR. 47 

Flav. Thou art a cobbler, art thou? 

Cob. Truly, sir, all that I live by is with the awl. T 
meddle with no trades — man's matters, nor women's mat- 
ters : but withal I am, indeed, sir, a surgeon to old shoes ; 
when they are in great danger, I re-cover them. As proper 
men as ever trod upon neat's leather have gone upon my 
handiwork. 

Flav. But wherefore art not in thy shop to-day ? 
Why dost thou lead these men about the streets ? 

Cob. Truly, sir, to wear out their shoes, to get myself 
into more work. But, indeed, sir, we make holiday, to see 
Caesar and to rejoice in his triumph. 31 

gent. Skcat. — 22-24. all . . . awl . . . withal. . Paranomasia? Should 
it be printed with awl, or with all ? The folio (1623) has ' withal.' ' Withal ' 
in Shakes. =with, with it, with them, besides, with all this. Abbott, 196. 
See index to our ed. of Macbeth, Hamlet, and Mer. of Ven. — 23. trades. 
Said baffling in response to Marullus's persistent inquiry as to ' trade ' ? 
We print so as to show the antithesis which the editors generally overlook. 

— 25. re-cover = cover again? cure? — circumflex accent? — proper = 
decorous ? well behaved ? precise ? appropriate ? handsome ? — See Hebreivs, 
xi, 23. — 26. neat's.' A. S. neotan, niotan, to use, employ. Neat (Mid. 
Eng. neet) cattle = bulls, cows, oxen. "The steer, the heifer, and the calf 
Are all called neat," Winter's Tale, I, ii, 124, 125. "Neat is the ancient 
term for horned cattle." Johnson. See 'neat's-footoil.' — Tempest, II, ii, 64. 

— 27. handiwork. A. S. hand-geiveorc, ge-weorc being but another form 
of work. See ' chirurgeonly ' (surgeon-like, physician-like; fr. xei'p, cheir, 
hand, cpyov, ergon, work ; x«'P<™py°?> cheirourgos, an operating medical 
man). Tempest, II, i, 140. — 28. art.- Pronoun needed? So "This is my 
Son beloved; in him am pleased." Par. Regained, I, 85. — 29, 30. Antithe- 
ses? — 31. indeed. Quits jesting? — 32. Caesar. Born July (named from 
him) 12, 100 B.C. ; married, at 17, Cornelia, daughter of L. China, chief of 
the Marian party ; rewarded at 20 with a civic crown ; renowned at 23 for 
oratory displayed in prosecuting Dolabella for extortion; a prisoner to the 
pirates at 24; quaestor (state treasurer?) at 32; aedile (supt. of public 
buildings?) at 35; be opposed in the Senate, at 37, the infliction of death 
without open trial on Catiline's co-conspirators; was elected pontifex 
maximus the same year; praetor (city judge?) at 38; consul at 40; formed, 
with Pompey and Crassus, the first triumvirate at 41, subjugating Gaul 
during the next nine years; at 45 invaded England, and again at 46; at 50 
ordered by the Senate to disband his army. Complete this record of 
Caesar's life! — 31. triumph. Caesar's fifth and last? The other four 
were respectively over the Gauls, Ptolemaeus, Pharnaces, and Juba. In 
September, 45 b.c, after nine or ten months' absence, he had returned to 
Rome, having defeated Pompey's two sons in the hard-fought field of 
Munda (March 17, b.c. 45) in Southern Spain. Pompey's elder son, 
Cneius, was wounded in the battle, and killed in endeavoring to escape. 
See Class. Diet. — The 'triumph' really took place in October. A ' tri- 
umph ' was a grand military procession moving through the streets of 
Rome, substantially in the following order: (1) the magistrates; (2) the 
Senate; (3) trumpeters; (4) wagons and platforms laden with spoils, 
bearing explanatory labels, pictures, maps, models, etc. ; (5) flute-players ; 
(6) white bulls or oxen for sacrifice; (7) priests and their attendants; 



48 JULIUS CJESAR. [act i. 

Marul. Wherefore rejoice ? What conquest brings he 
home ? 
What tributaries follow him to Rome, 
To grace in captive bonds his chariot-wheels ? 
You blocks, you stones, you worse than senseless things ! 35 
( I you hard hearts, you cruel men of Rome ! 
Knew you not Fompey ? Many a time and oft 
Have you climb 'tl up to walls and battlements, 
To towers and windows, yea, to chimney-tops, 
Your infants in your arms, and there have sat 40 

The live-long day, with patient expectation, 
To see great Fompey pass the streets of Rome : 
And when you saw his chariot but appear, 
Have you not made an universal shout, 
That Tiber trembled underneath her banks, 45 



(8) elephants, or other strange animals, from the conquered districts; 

(9) arms, standards, and insignia of the conquered nations; (10) captive 
princes, leaders, and their kindred; (11) other prisoners of war in fetters; 
(12) crowns and gifts from allies ; (13) lictors in single file with brows and 
fasces wreathed with laurel; (14) the triumphant Imperator, standing 
with his youngest children in a circular car drawn by four horses ; (15) his 
grown-up sous on horseback; (10) mounted legati, tribuni, and equites; 
(17) Roman legions laurelled and marching in column, singing and shouting. 1 

— Caesar's five triumphs were over the Gauls, Ptolemseus, Pharnaces, Juba, 
and, lastly, the Iberians, under Cnseus Pompey. "The public entertain- 
ments of Caesar, his spectacles and shows, his naumachise, and the pomps 
of his unrivalled triumphs (the closing triumphs of the Republic), were 
severally the finest of their kind which had then been brought forward. 
. . . Never before . . . had there been so vast a conflux of the human race 
congregated to any one centre on any one attraction of business or of 
pleasure. . . . Accommodations within doors and under roofs of houses, 
or roofs of temples, was altogether impossible. Myriads encamped along 
the streets, and along the highways, fields, or gardens. Myriads lay 
stretched on the ground, without even the slight protection of tents, in a 
vast circuit about the city. Multitudes of men, even senators, and others 
of the highest rank, were trampled to death in the crowds." — Be Quincey. 

— 37. "knew you not Pompey many a time and oft?" So reads the 
first folio (1623). Good sense thus? — Ou 'many a,' see Abbott, 85. The 
A. S. idiom was manig man, many man, not 'many a man.' Compare 
Ger. mancher (adjective) Mann with manch (adverb) ein Mann. — 
40. infants. • Why mentioned? Note the climax. — 41. live-long = long- 
lasting? Used for"' life-long ' ? — 42. pass by ? through ?— 43. chariot but 
appear = mere chariot appear ? chariot appear merely ? Abbott, 12!), 420. 

— 44. an universal. Present usage of 'a' or 'an' before initials? — 
45. That Tiber. Such ellipsis is very frequent in Shakes. ? Abbott, 283. 

1 " Blest and thrice blest the Roman 
Who sees Koine's brightest day! 
Who sees that long victorious pomp 
Wind down the Sacred Way 
And through the bellowing Forum 
And round the Suppliant's (irove, 
Up to the everlasting gates 
Of Capitolian Jove ! " — Macaulay. 



SCENE I.] JULIUS CJSSAE. 49 

To hear the replication of your sounds 

Made in her concave shores ? 

And do you now put on your best attire ? 

And do you now cull out a holiday ? 

And do you now strew flowers in his way 50 

That comes in triumph over Pompey's blood ? 

Be gone ! 

Run to your houses, fall upon your knees, 

Pray to the gods to intermit the plague 

That needs must light on this ingratitude. 55 

Flav. Go, go, good countrymen, and, for this fault, 
Assemble all the poor men of your sort; 
Draw them to Tiber banks, and' weep your tears 
Into the channel, -till the lowest stream 
Do kiss the most exalted shores of all. go 

[Exeunt all the Commoners. 
See, whe'er their basest metal be not mov'd; 
They vanish tongue-tied in their guiltiness. 
Go you down that way towards the Capitol ; 
This way will I : disrobe the images, 
If you do find them deck'd with ceremonies. 65 



— her. The Roman would have said his. Milton uses ' her' of a river in 
Par. Lost, III, 359. Feminine beings tremble? In Kinr/ John, III, i, "J.">, 
and 2 Henry IV, IV, iv, 127, Shakes, uses 'his' and 'it' of rivers. In 
Drayton (1613), rivers are generally fern.; in Spenser, masc. So in 
1 Henry IV, I, iii,_106, 'his' is used of the Severn. — 46. replication. 
Lat. re, back; plicare, to fold; Ital. replica, a repetition. Ham. IV, ii, 13. 
— 47. concave. How? Why not convex ? Caves in the banks? Why 
is this line incomplete? Rhetorical purpose ? — 40. cull. Lat. colligZre. 

— Emphatic censure? — 50. flowers. Scan the line. — 51. blood.. De- 
feated at Pharsalus, Aug. 9, 48 b.*c., Pompey fled to Egypt, where he 
was assassinated on landing, Sept. 29. His head was sent to Cassar, who 
wept on beholding it. — Is 'blood ' offspring? See on line 31. — North's 
Plutarch, p. 736. Cresar's triumph really occurred in the month of Octo- 
ber preceding. — 52. Be gone ! Rhetorical effect of this fragment of a 
verse? Abbott, 512. — 54. intermit. Lat. inter, in the midst of; mit- 
tere, to let go. — Stronger than remit ? avert? withhold? suspend? cease 
a while? As if the plague were already descending? — plague. Gr. 
n-ATjyjj ; Lat. plar/a, blow, stroke. — " After the low and farcical jests of the 
saucy cobbler, the eloquence of Marullns ' springs upward like a pyramid 
of fire.'" Campbell. — 57. sort = rank in life [Wright] ? order, class of 
people [Schmidt]? Lat. sors, lot. — 58. Tiber banks". Like ' Philippi 
fields,' V, v, 19. Abbott, 22.-59, 60. Effect of such hyperbole on such an 
audience? — 61. whe'er = whether? — The folio has where, as in V, iii, 97. 

— Abbott, 466. — basest metal, etc. Tongue-tied with shame, though 
they are dull and heavy as lead [Hudson] ? The folio (1623) here has 
'mettle' ; elsewhere, ' metall.' The two were identical in sense and use. 

— 65. deck'd with ceremonies = eeremoniously or pompously decorated 



50 JULIUS CAESAR. [ACT I. 

Mar id. May we do so ? 
You know it is the feast of Lupercal. 

Flav. It is no matter; let no images 
Be hung with Caesar's trophies. I'll about, 
And drive away the vulgar from the streets : 70 

So do you too, where you perceive them thick. 
These growing feathers pluck'd from Caesar's wing 
Will make him fly an ordinary pitch, 
Who else would soar above the view of men 
And keep us all in servile fearfulness. 

[Exeunt. 

[White] ? — ceremonies = festal ornaments [Schmidt] ? honorary orna- 
ments [Malone] ? insignia (of royalty or the like) [March] ? trophies and 
scarfs [Wright, Meiklejohn, etc.]? — "His ceremonies laid by, in his 
nakedness he appears but a man." Henri/ V, IV, i, 100, 101. See Meas. 
for Meas., II, ii, 59-63 ; Mer. of Ven., V, i, 204. " There were set up images 
of Caesar in the city with diadems upon their heads, like kings." North's 
Plutarch, p. 738.-67. feast of Lupercal, an expiatory or purifying fes- 
tival held annually, Feb. 15, in Rome, near the Lupercal (a cavern at the 
foot of Mt. Aventine, with altar and grove near), where Romulus and 
Remus were found with their she-wolf nurse (Mrs. Lupa or Lupercal) — 
Lupercus, Roman god of fertility, was often identified with the Greek 
Pan, god of shepherds. The rites appear to have symbolized originally a 
purification of flocks. See Anthon's Smith's Diet. Ur. and Rom. Antiq.— 
Any inconsistency with line 2? — G9. trophies. Gr. rpdn-aior, Lat. tropseum, 
¥i.tropti€e, originally a monument erected on the spot where the enemy 
turned to flee in battle; fr. rpoTrrj, tro-pe, a turn. Captured arms were sus- 
pended upon it. — 70. vulgar. Lat. vulpiis, the common people. Any 
disparagement intended? Whence the unfavorable sense? See lines 15, 
20. — 73. pitch=height (to which a bird soars) ? Akin to 'pike,' 'pick,' 
' peak,' ' peg ' ? Any feeling of a point on a scale ? — The tribunes vanish. 
What became of them? I, ii, 275. — What light does this scene throw on 
the state of public sentiment in Rome? Any indication that the Romans 
felt oppressed by Cassar ? 

The following questions are suggested by Dr. Francis A. March in his 
admirable Method of Philological Study : 

Is this a good scene to open with? Why? What is there to attract 
attention — show, bustle, fun, eloquence? — What variety in this scene 
among the characters .' Difference between^he tribunes and the people? 
Between the tribunes ? Between the carpenter and the cobbler? What 
variety in looks ? Describe Marullus ! What kind of looking man do 
you conceive him to be — e.g., large, small, loud, gentle, rapid, slow; of 
what temperament, eyes, nose, dress, manners? Describe Flavins! De- 
scribe the coblder ! —the carpenter ! The dress of the tribunes? — of the 
people? — What variety in the action. 1 The people are doing what at the 
beginning of the scene? In the middle? At the end? What change in 
their feelings ? — What variety in the sentiments? Are there comic and 
tragic thoughts ? — Foolery and eloquence? The eloquence runs through 
what changes ? — What variety in the language ? Prose and verse ? Cob- 
bler's puns and tribune's tropes? Is the attention of the audience wholly 
occupied with the scenic present? The speech of Marullus adds what 
variety in this respect ?— What unity between the tribunes? Are they a 



SCENE II.] JULIUS CMSAR. 51 



Scene II. A Public Place. 

Flourish. Enter Cesar; Antony, for the course; Cal- 
purnia, Portia, Decius, Cicero, Brutus, Cassius, and 
Casca ; a Soothsayer; after them Marullus and Flavius. 

Coesar. Calpurnia ! 

Casca. Peace, ho ! Caesar speaks. 

Cmsar. Calpurnia ! 

Calpurnia. Here, my lord. 

Caisar. Stand you directly in Antonio's way, 
When he doth run his course. — Antonio ! 5 

Antony. Caesar, my lord ? 

Ccesar. Forget not, in your speed, Antonio, 
To touch Calpurnia ; for oar elders say, 
The barren, touched in this holy chase, 
Shake off their sterile curse. 

pair with complementary qualities? — having a common purpose? — a 
common position? What unity between the tribunes and the people? 
Are they matched ? Point out the qualities which couple ! Are they 
members of one body? What is the fable of Menenius Agrippa ? (Coriol., 
I, i.) How many good pictures should the stage present during the scene? 
Should a photograph of it at any moment have unity in the grouping? 
Describe the central object and the grouping — e.g., at the opening; — at 
"Mend me, thou saucy fellow!" — at " Knew you not Pompey?" — at 
" P>e gone! " Tell how each of the characters looks! — What is the main 
idea of the play? How does this scene contribute to its development? 
What art is shown in preparing the audience for coming scenes? 

By keeping back his principal characters, Shakespeare feeds expectation ? 

Scene II. How long a time elapses between scenes i and ii? — Mar- 
ens Brutus was now 42 years of age. The name Decius should have been 
written Decimus (Brutus). The same error is found in the Greek aid 
Latin texts of Stephens' Plutarch (1572), in North's translation (1579), 
Amyot's French translation (1590), Dacier's French translation (1721), 
and Holland's translation of Suetonius (lUOG). Furthermore, it was Deci- 
nms. not Decius, that was Cresar's favorite.— 1. Caesar. The first wind 
he utters is just a quiet word of summons in the perfectly calm tone of a 
man who is always obeyed — "Calpurnia," "AntoniusV' Beeching. — 
Calpurnia, daughter of L. Calpurnius Piso. She was Cresar's fourth 
wife, married to him 59 B.C. His first wife died 68 B.C. His second wile 
was a relative of Pompey and granddaughter of Sulla. — 3. directly = 
exactly? immediately? I,i, 12. — 4. Antonio's. The folios have Antonio's. 
Antony was now about 42 years of age. He, as well as Csesar, was con- 
sul; also, by Caesar's appointment, he was chief of the Juliani, a third 
order (or 'college') of Luperci instituted by Caesar. While yet a boy, 
Csesar himself was made a priest of Jupiter. Antony was Caesar's nephew '.' 
— 5. course. This singular religious race was run' by men cinctured with 
goat-skin. Stripped to the waist, they struck with goat-skin thongs, as 
they ran, those who presented themselves for the purpose.— 9. sterile 
curse = curse of sterility? — Had Csesar any children ? — His only daugh- 



52 JULIUS CMSAR. [ACT I. 

Antony. I shall remember : 

When Caesar says " Do this," it is perform'd. 10 

Caesar. Set on ; and leave no ceremony out. [Flourish. 

Soothsayer. Caesar ! 

Ccesar. Ha ! who calls ? 

Casca. Bid every noise be still : peace yet again ! 

Ccesar. Who is it in the press that calls on me ? 
I hear a tongue, shriller than all the music, 15 

Cry " Csesar ! " Speak ; Caesar is turn'd to hear. 

Soothsayer. Beware the Ides of March. 

Ccesar. What man is that ? 

Brutus. A soothsayer bids you beware the Ides of March. 

Ccerar. Set him before me ; let me see his face. 

Cassius. Fellow, come from the throng ; look upon Caesar. 20 

Ccesar. What say'st thou to me now ? speak once again. 

Soothsayer. Beware the Ides of March. 

Ccesar. He is a dreamer ; let us leave him : pass. 

[Sennet. Exeunt all except Brutus and Cassius. 

Cassius. Will you go see the order of the course ? 

Brutus. Not I. 

Cassius. I pray you, do. 

Brutus. I am not gamesome : I do lack some part 
Of that quick spirit that is in Antony. 

ter, Julia, died ten years before (i.e. 51 B.C.).— 10. it is perform'd. 
Like the French courtier's " If it is difficult, it is done ; if it is impossible, 
it shall be done!" — 11. set on = proceed? place seats, etc. — 13. yet 
again. See line 1. — 11. press. Mark, ii, 1; II, iv, 3(3. " Fly from the 
press." Chaucer. — lti. Csesar is turn'd. Arrogant use of third per- 
son?— 17. Ides. The loth of March, May, July, October; 13th of the 
other months. Probably connected with Sanscrit indu, the moon. Sheat. 
In the Roman month were three divisions : Kalends (whence calendar) , 1st 
day; Nones, 5th or 7th day; and Ides. — 18. soothsayer. The metre of 
this line was meant to express that sort of mild philosophic contempt char- 
acterizing Brutus even in his first casual speech [Coleridge]? — Scan so as 
to make five feet ; thus : 

w — , w ^ — , \j ^ — , \y — , ^ — ? 

— With tragic irony reporting the oracle he himself is to make good 
[Beeching]? — Suetonius calls the soothsayer Spurinna. Plutarch (p. 739) 
relates that he " had given Cresar warning long time afore to take lie sd of 
the day of the " ides of March.'* — The omission of who after soothsayer is 
slightly contemptuous? — A. S. soth, true ; santh, for asantha, being; Lat. 
sens in praesens ; at first the present participle of as, to be, and meant 
originally no more than being. Skeat. Forsooth = for truth. So, in 
sooth. — II. iv, '20. — 20. look upon Csesar. Sarcasm here in Cassias' 
voice [Beeching] ? — 23. Sennet; a set of trumpet notes giving the signal 
to move ou? Henri/ VIII, II, iv. —27. quick=swift? lively? — Is Brutus 
sarcastic here? — A. S. cwic, living, lively; akin to Lat. viv-ere; Gr. 



SCENE II.] JULIUS C^SAR. 53 

Let me not hinder, Cassius, your desires; 
I'll leave you. 

Cassius. Brutus, I do observe you now of late : 
I have not from your eyes that gentleness 30 

And show of love as I was wont to have : 
You bear too stubborn and too strange a hand 
Over your friend that loves you. 

Brutus. Cassius, 

Be not deceiv'd : if I have veil'd my look, 
I turn the trouble of my countenance 35 

Merely upon myself. /Vexed I am 
Of late with passions of some difference, 
Conceptions only proper to myself, 
Which give some soil perhaps to my behaviors ;) 
But let not therefore my good friends be grieVd — 40 

Among which number, Cassius, be you one — 
Nor construe any further my neglect, 

(Than that poor Brutus, with himself at war, 
Forgets the shows of love to other men. 
Cassius. Then, Brutus, I have much mistook your passion ; 
By means whereof this breast of mine hath buried 4(3 

Thoughts of great value, worthy cogitations. 
Tell me, good Brutus, can you see your face ? 

pi-os. bi-os, life. — 28. emphatic word? — 20. observe you, etc. Does he 
really care how Brutus feels towards him? See IV, iii, 84-120. — 30. that 
gentleness . . . as. Modernize. Abbott, 280. — Line 170. — 32. bear . . . 
hand, etc.=hold me too hard on the bit, like a strange rider who is doubt- 
ful of his steed [Hudson, following Joseph Crosby ; Staunton, Wright] ? 
Lear, III, i, 27. — 33. friend. Cassius and Brutus (brothers-in-law, Cas- 
sius having married Brutus' sister Junia) had been rival candidates for 
the office of chief praetor. Through Caesar's influence, Brutus had won. 
The duties of the 10 praetors were mainly judicial. See on I, iii, 142. — 
3(5. Merely = altogether [Hudson, Rolfe, etc.]? purely [Craik] ? abso- 
lutely? solely? — 'Merely upon myself ' = upon myself alone? — Scan.— 
37. See line 43. — difference = discordance [Craik] ? — passions of 
some difference=conflicting emotions? See Romans, ii, 15, version of 
1611. — What passions conflict in his breast? — 38. proper = peculiar 
[Meiklejohn] ? belonging [Wright]? — Lat. proprius, one's own. Abbott, 
16. — " Only," like merely, modifying myself? — 39. soil = ground ? stain ? 
Akin to Lat. suillus, swine-like; sits, swine ? sully? — behaviors. ' Plu- 
ral acts making up a line of conduct ' [Wright] ? — So Shakes, uses 
'loves,' 'wisdoms,' 'honors,' etc. See Hamlet, I, ii, 15; iii, 254; IV, vii, 
29; etc. So we say ' manners,' ' looks.' — 42. construe. Accent? I, iii, 
34; II, i, 307. — 45. mistook. So in Hamlet, V, ii, 395. Shakes, also 
uses 'mistaken.' Abbott, 343. — passion. Lat. passio, suffering, feeling; 
Gr. naeeiv, pathein, f o suffer. Used by Shakes, of any violent emotion 
[Deighton], — 46. By means whereof =and by mistaking [Beeching] ? 
in consequence of which (mistaken idea) [Deighton]? — 47. cogitations 



54 JULIUS CESAR. [ACT I. 

Brutus. No, Cassias ; for the eye sees not itself 
But by reflection by some other thing. 50 

Cassius. 'Tis just : 
And it is very much lamented, Brutus, 
That you have no such mirrors as will turn 
Your hidden worthiness into your eye, 
That you might see your shadow. I have heard, 
Where many of the best respect in Koiue, — 55 

Except immortal Caesar, — speaking of Brutus, 
And groaning underneath this age's yoke, 
Have wish'd that noble Brutus had his eyes — 

Brutus. Into what dangers would you lead me, Cassius, 
That you would have me seek into myself go 

For that which is not in me ? 

Cassius. Therefore, good Brutus, be prepar'd to hear : 
And since you know you cannot see yourself 
So well as by reflection, I, your glass, 

Will modestly discover to yourself 05 

That of yourself which you yet know not of. 
And be not jealous on me, gentle Brutus : 
Were I a common laughter, or did use 
To stale with ordinary oaths my love 
To every new protester ; if you know 70 



-^thoughts [Rolfe] ? studies? earnest meditations? — Lat. con, together; 
agitare, to drive earnestly or often. Daniel, vii, 28. — 49. sees not, etc. 
So in Troil. ami Ores., Ill, iii, 10i5, 107, etc. — 50. by some = by means of 
some [Wright, Rolfe]? Abbott, 14(3. — 'Tis just=just so? well said? — 
52. mirrors. Changed by some to 'mirror,' judiciously? — 54. shadow 
= reflected image [Wright]? Repeatedly so in Shakes. — 55. best .re- 
spect = highest esteem [Wright]? highest respectability or estimation 
[Rolfe]? Ill, ii, 15; IV, iii, (3!). —58. his eyes. Whose eyes? Brutus'? 
Wright thinks ' his ' is here carelessly written for 'their.' Likely? See 
lines 60, 63. — 62. Therefore, etc. Explain 'therefore.' Is Cassius so 
absorbed in his own thought that he does not notice Brutus' question? — 
67. jealous on. Gr. £eu>, zeo, I boil ; 61ao?. eager rivalry, jealousy : Lat. 
zelus, zelosus; O. Fr. jalous ; Early Eng. gelus; Mid. Eng. jalous, sus- 
picious of rivalry. Skeat and Bracket. — <h\ is often used for 'of in 
Shakes.; as in 'tell on.' I, iii, 136. Ahh >tt, ISO. — Line 158. — 68. laugh- 
ter = laughing-stock ? The recent editors follow Rowe (1714) and Pope 
(1725) in changing this to ' laugher.' But the original seems more expres- 
sive; the conversion of a man into a laughing-stock is more Shake- 
spearian, and 'laughter' in IV, iii, 113 is nearly parallel? — See I, ii, 201- 
203. — OK. stale (O. Dutch stel, old, stale, savoring of the stall?) = to make 
stale, common, or tainted? make cheap? Johnson interprets 'stale with 
ordinary oaths,' ' invite by the stale or allurement of customary oaths.' — 
See Ant. and Cleop., II, ii, 236; Troil. a nil Ores., II, iii, 182; also this play, 
IV, i, 38. — 70. protester=p3rson who strongly professes friendship? So 



SCENE II.] JULIUS CJSSAR. 55 

That I do fawn on men and hug them hard 
And after scandal them, or if you know 
That I profess myself in banqueting 
To all the rout, then hold me dangerous. 

[Flourish, and shoiit. 

Brutus. What means this shouting ? I do fear, the people 
Choose Ceesar for their king. 

Cassius. Ay, do you fear it ? 76 

Then must I think you would not have it so. 

Brutus. I would not, Cassius ; yet I love him well. 
Bat wherefore do you hold me here so long? 
What is it that you would impart to me ? 80 

If it be aught toward the general good, 
Set honor in one eye and death i' the other, 
And I will look on both indifferently : 
For let the gods so speed me, as I love 
The name of honor more than I fear death. 85 

Casshis. I know that virtue to be in you, Brutus, 
As well as I do know your outward favor. 



in Hamlet, III, ii, 213, "The lady protests too much, methinks." — 
72. after. Quite common in Shakes, for 'afterwards.' — scandal = 
defame? Gr. o-k<xv&o.Aov, scandalon, snare, offence, stumbling-block, scan- 
dal. — Used so now? — 73. profess = make protestations "of friendship 
[Schmidt]? declare myself friendly [Wright]? — banqueting. Caesar, 
in September, 45 B.C., feasted the Romans at 22,000 tables, each supposed 
to have three couches, each couch three persons! — 74. rout=rabble? 
Lat. rupta, broken; O. Fr. route, a defeat. A routed army is broken. 
Lycidas, 61. — dangerous. See line 59. — 75. Brutus is startled into 
revealing the subject of his ' passion ' (line 45) [Beeching]? — 76. Choose. 
The word is an acknowledgment by Brutus that the people are free ? — 
81. toward. Accent? — 83. indifferently, etc. Johnson says," "When 
Brutus first names honor and death, he calmly declares them indifferent, 
but as the image kindles in his mind, he sets honor above life." — Will not 
turn his eyes away from honor because death happens to lie close to it 
[Beeching]? — For comment by Coleridge and Craik, see Rolfe. — ' Indif- 
ferently '= without making a difference. He will make no difference be- 
tween honor and death; for the plain reason that he sees but one of them, 
viz. honor ! — If this explanation is unsatisfactory, perhaps we may safely 
say that this is an instance, the first in the play, of Brutus' inconsistency. 

— Theobold, Warburtou, and Hudson change ' both' to 'death.' — See our 
comments in column of Shakespeariana, in The Student (magazine), June, 
1890, Univ. of N. Dakota. — 84. so speed=so prosper? — Prosper, how 
much, or how surely? As much or as surely as I love honor more than I 
fear death. How much is that? or how surely? I have no fear of death ; 
I have measureless love of honor. — A. S. sped, haste, success, help. Sheaf. 

— 87. favor = look, aspect, appearance [Hudson]? external appearance 
[Wright]? face or personal appearance [Rolfe]? — See As You Like It, 
IV, iii, 89; Macbeth, I, v, 73; Tioelfth N., II, iv, 25; III, iv, 313, where 
' favor ' = face, or look of the face. — Lat. favere, to befriend; favor, 



56 JULIUS CAESAR. [ACT I. 

Well, honor is the subject of my story. 

I cannot tell what you and other men 

Think of this life ; but, for my single self, 90 

I had as lief not be as live to be 

In awe of such a thing as I myself. 

I was born free as Caesar ; so were you : 

We both have fed as well, and we can both 

Endure the winter's cold as well as he : 95 

For once, upon a raw and gusty day, 

The troubled Tiber charing with her shores, 

Caesar said to me '■ Dar'st thou, Cassius, now 

Leap in with me into this angry flood, 

And swim to yonder point ? " Upon the word, 100 

Accoutered as I was, 1 plunged in 

And bade him follow; so indeed he did. 

The torrent roar'd, and we did buffet it 

With lusty sinews, throwing it aside 

And stemming it with hearts of controversy : 105 

kindliness. — See II, i, 70; Proverbs, xxxi, 30. — 88. honor. This word 
is ever on Brutus' tongue. Does he mean good reputation? or high moral 
worth? or something else? Your opinion? — 91. had as lief=would as 
willingly [Wright] ? would prefer [Meiklejohn] ? should like as much 
[Schmidt] ?— Pun on lief and live? — Old pronunciation of lief? As You 
Like It. 1. i, 133. — llml is here old subjunc, like Ger. hatte. Meikle- 
john. See note on 'had rather,' I, ii, 168; III, ii, 22. — A. S. leof, liof— 
dear, beloved. In Chaucer, 'lever '= more agreeable; rather. — Cassius' 
argument is this: It is dishonorable to be governed by an equal, much 
more by an inferior [Beeehing] ? — 94. fed. Undue importance attached 
to tool? Fallacy in 'plain living and high thinking '? — See lines 145, 
140. — " Spare Fast, that oft with gods doth diet." Milton's II Penseroso, 
line 4li. — 97. Tiber chafing. Case? Abbott, 370. — As if the river were 
angry? — Lat. calere, to grow warm; facSre, to make. Caleface're, to 
make warm, became in O. Fr., by contraction, successively calefare, 
cal'fare; c became eh ; al became au. Hence O. Fr. chaufer; Fr. chauf- 
fer; Eng. chafe, to warm; warm by rubbing; rub, inflame; fret, vex. 
Brachet, Craik, and Skeat. Lear, IV, vi, 21; 2 8am., xvii, 8. — her. 
I, i, 45. — 98. Dar'st thou, etc. Authority for this story? — Caesar's 
skill in swimming saved his lite in battle at Alexandria. "He leapt from 
the pier into a boat." As the Egyptians " made towards him with their 
oars on every side," he, says Suetonius, "leapt into the sea," and swam 
" a quarter of a mile, bearing up in his left hand all the while, for fear the 
writings which he held therein should take wet, and drawing his rich coat 
arinoi- alter him by the teeth." Plutarch says he "swam witli the other 
hand, notwithstanding that they shot marvellously at him, and he was 
driven sometimes to duck into the water." — 99. angry. Continuation of 
metaphor?— 104. lusty = vigorous, stout [Schmidt]? Judges, iii, 29. — 
The Teut. base lus = to set free. A. S. lust = pleasure. Skeat. — 105. of 
controversy = controversial, emulous, belligerent ? opposing (current 
and waves)? of controversy with each other? — So 'of love ' = loving 
(Mer. of Ven., II, viii, 42) ; 'of honor' = honorable (Meets, for Meas., II, 



SCENE II.] JULIUS CAESAR. 57 

But ere we could arrive the point propos'd, 

Caesar cried " Help me, Cassius, or I sink ! " 

I, as ^Eneas, our great ancestor, 

Did from the flames of Troy upon his shoulder 

The old Anchises bear, so from the waves of Tiber 110 

Did I the tired Csesar. And this man 

Is now become a god, and Cassius is 

A wretched creature and must bend his body, 

If Caesar carelessly but nod on him. 

He had a fever when he was in Spain, 115 

And when the fit was on him, I did mark 

How he did shake : 'tis true, this god did shake : 

His coward lips did from their color fly, 

And that same eye whose bend doth awe the world 

Did lose his luster : I did hear him groan : 120 

Ay, and that tongue of his, that bade the Romans 

Mark him and write his speeches in their books — 

" Alas ! " it cried, " give me some drink, Titinius," 

As a sick girl. (Ye gods ! it doth amaze me 

A man of such a feeble temper should 125 

iv, 179) ; ' of mercy ' = merciful {Hamlet, IV, vi, 19). See note in our ed. 
of Hamlet, I, iv, 36. — 106. arrive. So ' at ' is omitted in 3 Henry VI, V, 
iii, 8; Par. Lost, II, 409 ; Coriol., II, iii, 175. — Abbott, 198. — Lat. ad, to; 
ripa, bank, shore ; arrive = come ashore? So we use the word 'land' in 
colloquial speech. — 108. ^Eneas, etc. See the story, Mneid, ii, 721 et 
seq.; 2 Henry VI, V, ii, 62-65. — 110. Apparent Alexandrine (iambic hex* 
anieter), resolved by Abbott (501) into 'a trimeter couplet' not unlikely 
to occur ' between a comparison and the fact.' — 112, 114. god . . . nod. 
The ' nod ' was the appropriate expression of Jupiter's will. sEneid, ix, 
106 ; Iliad, i, 528. — ' a god ' ! For similar sarcasm see Isaiah, xliv, 15, 16. 
— 118. coward lips, etc. Vivid picture of desertion of colors in battle? 
— See Romeo's exquisite utterance over the apparently dead but still 
beautiful Juliet, 

"Thou art not conquer'd ; beauty's ensign yet 
Is crimson in thy lips and in thy cheeks, 
And death's pale nag is not advanced there." 

— Horn, and Jul. V, iii, 94-96. 

What of Shakespeare's love of military ideas? — 119. bend = look 
[Schmidt]? glance? direction? — In Henry IV, II, iii, 45, "bend thine 
eyes "= direct (or fix) thine eyes. Hamlet, II, i, 100; Cymbel. I, i, 
13; Par. Lost, III, 58. — his = its? or is ' eye ' personified ? — In Shakes. 
'it 'occurs as possessive 14 times; 'it's,' 9 times; 'its,' once. In Milton 
'its' occurs 3 times; in King James's version of the Bible, not at 
all. Modern editors have substituted 'its' for 'it' in Leviticus, xxv, 5. 
See our ed. of Hamlet, I, ii, 216. — 120. did. The weak 'did,' once com- 
mon, now to be avoided ? — 123. Alas. Part of Cresar's cry ? So Staunton. 
The editors generally print it as Cassius'. — Titinius. 'One of Csesar's 
chiefest friends,' says Plutarch. See V, iii. — 125. temper = disposition? 
temperament? constitution? which? — Lat. tempvs, fit season, time; 



58 JULIUS CAESAR. [ACT I. 

So get the start of the majestic world 

And bear the palm alone.) [Shout. Flourish. 

Brutus. Another general shout ! 

I do believe that these applauses are 

For some new honors that are heap'd on Csesar. 130 

Cassius. Why, man, he doth bestride the narrow world 

Like a Colossus ; and we petty men 

Walk under his huge legs and peep about 

To find ourselves dishonorable graves. 

Men at some time are masters of their fates : 135 

The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, 

But in ourselves, that we are underlings. 

Brutus and Caesar ! — What should be in that "Caesar" ? 

Why should that name be sounded more than yours ? 

Write them together, yours is as fair a name ; 140 

Sound them, it doth become the mouth as well; 

Weigh them, it is as heavy ; conjure with 'em, 

" Brutus " will start a spirit as soon as " Caesar." 

Now, in the names of all the gods at once. 
/Upon what meat does this our Ca esar feed/ 145 

\That he is grown so great ?/^Age, tho"uart sham'd ! 

Rome, thou hast lost the breed of noble bloods ! 

temperare, to proportion duly: fr. base tem; Gr. Te/u.veiv, temnein, to cut. 
— "The lean and wrinkled Cassius venting his spite at C.esar, by ridicul- 
ing his liability to sickness and death, is charmingly characteristic." Hud- 
son. — 126. majestic. Antithesis'? — 127. palm. Given by Greeks and 
Romans as a prize in athletic contests and in chariot races. — 129. do. 
Weak? emphatic? — See 120, 103; 75. — 131. man. Increasing familiar- 
ity? — narrow. Antithetic? — "The senate had erected a bronze statue 
of Caesar standing on a globe, and inscribed 'to Caesar, the Demigod'; 
which inscription, however, Caesar had erased." Hudson. — 132. Colossus. 
An immense bronze image, erected to the sun-god B.C. 300. It cost 300 tal- 
ents. Hyginus makes the height 90 feet ; Pliny, 70 cubits ; Testus, 105. It 
was ascended by a spiral staircase within. It stood at (some say astride) 
the entrance to the harbor at Rhodes, and was reckoned one of the seven 
wonders of the world. Its ringers were larger than most statues. After 
56 years it was broken off below the knees by an earthquake. See Class. 
Diet. — <>ur word ' colossal '? — 136. stars = planets under which we were 
born [Wright]? — "The stars above us govern our condition," Lear, VI, 
iii, 34. See Lear, I, ii, 117-124; Ham., I, i, 117-120. " My stars! " testi- 
fies to the old superstition? See Astrology.— 137. underlings = infe- 
riors ? mean ' fellows ' ? — The -ling is diniin. and sometimes contemptuous ; 
as in 'hireling,' 'witling,' worldling.' — 138. should = can? might? — 
Tempest, I, ii, 3S7; Ant. and Cleop., IV, iii, 15. Abbott, 325. — Caesar = 
ivord Caesar? man Csesar? — 139. than. The folio has 'then.' The two 
were spelled indifferently ' than ' and ' then.' — 142. conjure. Two mean- 
ings, two pronunciations? How now? — The talismanic or magical power 
of names ? — 14i). Age. What age? the present? old?— At all like Lat. 
" tempora" .' — 145, 146. Line 94. — 147. bloods. IV, iii, 260; King 



SCENE II.] JULIUS CAESAR, 59 

When went there by an age, since the great flood, 

But it was fam'd with more than with one man ? 

When could they say till now, that talk'd of Rome, 150 

That her wide walks encompass'd but one man ? 

Now is it Rome indeed and room enough, 

When there is in it but one only man. 

O, you and I have heard our fathers say, 

There was a Brutus once that would have brook'd 15.5 

The eternal devil to keep his state in Rome 

As easily as a king ! 

Brutus. That you do love me, I am nothing jealous ; 
What you would work me to, I have some aim : 
How I have thought of this and of these times, 160 



John, II, i, 278; Much Ado, III, iii, 120, 121. — 148. flood. Noah's? See 
Class. Diet, under 'Deucalion.' Coriol., II, i, 83; Winter's Tale, IV, iv, 
420. — 149. fam'd with. Modem word for ' with ' ? — Abbott, 193, 194. — 
151. walks. Most editors, following Rowe (1714), change 'walks' to 
'walls.' The folio has ' walkes,' which makes fair sense. The play was 
printed with remarkable accuracy, and the misprint of ' walkes ' for 
' walls ' or ' walles ' was rather unlikely to happen. Ill, ii, 246; Par. Lost, 
IV, 586, 587. See ' Walks about Rome.' — Yet a strong argument may he 
made for 'walls,' and 'encompass' suits it better. See "He walketh in 
the circuit of heaven." Job, xxii, 14. — 152. Rome . . . room. Verbal 
play repeated, III, i, 289, 290; King John, III, i, 180; and similarly Rome 
and roam,l Henry VI. HI, i, 51. — In the Rape of Lucrece, ' Rome ' rhymes 
with 'doom,' 1.716. — "Rome is too narrow a room." Prime's Commen- 
tary (1587). "Room was the old pronunciation of Rome. Earl Russell, 
who died in 1877, always said Room." Meiklejohn. — 153. one only. 
Hooker, in his Ecclesiastical Polity (1597), has 'one only God,' and ' one 
only family.' Abbott, 130. — One was pronounced like -one in alone, till about 
the year 1500. — 155. a Brutus once. The first consul of Rome, Lucius 
Junius Brutus, who (510 B.C.) drove out the 7th and last king, Tarquinius 
Superbus. — brook'd. A. S. brucan, to use, enjoy; akin to Lat. frui. 
Skeat. " The transition from ' enjoy ' to ' bear with pleasure or patience ' 
is easy. Wright. Ger. brauchen akin? — I, iii, 145. — 156. eternal = 
infernal [Johnson] ? everlasting, perpetual [Steevens] ? with perpetual 
dominion [Meiklejohn]? " Shakes, uses ' eternal ' without the least inten- 
tion of expressing his belief in the continued existence of the impersona- 
tion of evil, but probably to avoid coming under the operation of the Act 
of James I, ' to restrain the abuses of players ' in the use of profane lan- 
guage. . . . By a similar concession to propriety, ' tarnal ' is used in 
America." Wright. This suggestion of ' a concession to propriety ' 
amuses ' Young America'! Did the Romans believe in an eternal prin- 
ciple of evil? Any anachronism in the use of the word devil? — Othello, 
IV, ii. 129; Hamlet, I, v, 21 ; V, ii, 353. — state = high position of govern- 
ing power [Meiklejohn] ? that which surrounds, as well as those who 
attend on (his greatness), his court [Schmidt]? throne? regal pomp? 
— Henry V, I, ii, 273; Macbeth, III, iv, 5; Coriol., V, iv, 22. — 158. 
nothing = not a thing? not a whit? — jealous = suspicious [Wright] ? 
doubtful [Rolf e] ? suspiciously fearful, doubtful [Schmidt]? distrustful? 
Line 67. — 159. aim. Two Gent, of Ver., Ill, i, 28. — Lat. sestimare; Old 



60 JULIUS CAESAR. [act I. 

I shall recount hereafter ; for this present, 
I would not, so with love I might entreat you, 
lie any further mov'd. What you have said 
1 will consider ; what you have to say 

I will with patience hear, and find a time 165 

Both meet to hear and answer such high things. 
Till then, my noble friend, chew upon this : 
Brutus had rather be a villager 
Than to repute himself a son of Rome 

Under these hard conditions as this time 170 

Is like to lay upon us. 

Cassias. I am glad 

That my weak words have struck but thus much show 
Of fire from Brutus. [Enter Cesar and his train. 

Brutus. The games are done and Caesar is returning. 

Cassius. As they pass by, pluck Casca by the sleeve; 175 
And he will, after his sour fashion, tell you 
What hath proceeded worthy note to-day. 

Brutus. I will do so. But, look you, Cassius, 
The angry spot doth glow on Caesar's brow, 
And all the rest look like a chidden train : 180 

Calpurnia's cheek is pale; and Cicero 
Looks with such ferret and such fiery eyes 
As we have seen him in the Capitol, 
Being cross'd in conference by some senators. 

Cassiics. Casca will tell us what the matter is. 185 

Fr. SBsmer • Mid. Eng. aimen, to value, estimate, guess. — 161. present. 
See our ed. of Macbeth, I, v, 55; Tempest, I, i, 21; 1 Corinth., xv, 6. — 
162. so = if? Abbott, 133; and see III, i, 141. — 1(57. chew = ruminate? — 
•• Some few [books] are to be chewed and digested." Bacon's Essay on 
Studies (1597). — " Philautus went into the fields ... to chew upon his 
melancholy." Lyly's Euphues (1579). — 168. had rather. For 'had,' 
see 1. 91. — villager. Contemplates voluntary exile? — A. S. hrude, 
quickly; hraed, quick, swift. Ruth [obsolete] = soon ; rather = sooner ; 
rathest [obsolete] = soonest. See on III, ii, 22. — Mer. of Ven., I, ii, 43. — 
169. to. Note its omission and insertion in this sentence. Abbott, 350. So 
in IV, iii, 7:'>. — 170. these . . . as, etc. Modernize this in two ways. See- 
as in 1. 31. — Observe the sententiousness in the foregoing speech of Brutus. 
Compare it in this respect with III, ii, 12-44. — 177. proceeded. Present 
sense? — Lat. pro, before; cede're, to go. — worthy. Ellipsis? So in II, 
i, 317. — Present use? — Abbott, 198 a. — 178. Cassius. Trisyl.? or pause 
after ' Cassius,' to give time to look? See our ed. of Hamlet, I, i, 129, 132. 

— 179. The angry spot. The use of The instead of An indicates what? 

— Abbott, 479. — 1S2. ferret. Bret, fur, wise, sly? — The animal is of 
the weasel kind, about 14 inches long, pale yellow or white, with bright 
red eyes that stare at one boldly, almost fiercely. Vivid description! — 
183. Ellipsis? — 184. conference = debate [Rolfe] ? discussion [Schmidt]? 

— Lat. con, together ; ferre, to bring. — 185. matter = trouble ? — Present 



SCENE II.] JULIUS C^ESAB. 61 

Ccesar. Antonio ! 

Antony. Caesar? 
' Ccesar. Let me have men about me that are fat : 
Sleek-headed men and such as sleep o' nights : 
Yond Oassius has a lean and hungry look ; 190 

II>' thinks too much: such men are dangerous. 

Antony. Fear him not, Caesar ; he's not dangerous ; 
He is a noble Roman, and well given. 

Ccesar. Would he were fatter ! But I fear him not : 
Yet if my name were liable to fear, 195 

I do not know the man I should avoid 
So soon as that spare Cassius. He reads much ; 
He is a great observer, and he looks 
Quite through the deeds of men ; he loves no plays, 
As thou dost, Antony ; he hears no music ; 200 

usage? — See Hamlet, ,11, ii, 193. — 188. Let . . . fat, 1 etc. — 189. o' nights. 
The folio reads " a-nights." The a or represents in, on, of, etc., con- 
tracted by rapid pronunciation. Abbott, 24, 17<i, 182. — 190. Yond. —A. S. 
geon, yon; Ger. jener, that; Aryan base ya, that. Skeat. — Tempest, I, 
ii, 409; II, ii, 20; V, iii, 18. — Hence beyond and yonder. II Penseroso, 
52. — 193. well-given = well disposed. So we say "given to drink," 
"given to study," etc. — "Cassius, who Mas Brutus" familial friend, but 
not so well given." North's Plutarch. — 195. name = self? — my name 
= I. — So the Gr. oi-oiua, onoma, name, is used for the person himself, as 
& 4>i\Ta.Tov (H'o/ua noAvKTiKov?, O philtatoii onoma Polyneikous ; O dearest 
name of Polynices, Eur. Phoznissse, 1702. So, "Thou hast a few names 
even in Sardis, which have not defiled their garments ; and they shall 
walk with me in white." Rev., iii, 4; Acts, iii, 16; Ephes., i, 21; and 
often in the Bible. See Par. Lost, II, 964. — liable to fear = liable to 
the imputation of fear [Rolfe] ? subject to fear? subordinate to fear? 
exposed to fear? — To Csesar his name represents an ideal, below which 
he must not fall [Beeching]? — II, ii, 104. — Lat. ligare ; Fr. Her, to bind; 
suffix -able. — 197. reads much, u Cassius was well acquainted with 
Greek and Roman literature. — 198. observer. Truly said? I, ii, 29. 
—200. as thou dost. "In his house they did nothing but feast, dance, 
and mask; and himself (Antony) passed away the time in hearing of 
foolish plays." North's Plutarch. — hears no music, etc. From this, 

1 Ccesar also had Cassius in great jealousie, and suspected him much: whereupon 
he said upon a time to his friends, what will Cassius do, think ye? I like not his pale 
looks. Another time, when Cassar's friends complained unto him of Antonius and 
Doldbella, that they pretended some mischief towards him : he answered them again, 
As for those fat men and smooth combed heads, quoth he, I never reckon of them : 
but these pale visaged and carrion lean People, I fear them most, meaning Brutus and 
Cassius. —North's Plutarch's Life of Ccesar. 

For intelligence being brought him one day that Antonius and Voiabe.Ua did 
conspire against him: he answered, That these fat long-haired men made him not 
afraid, but the lean and whitely faced fellows, meaning that by Brutus and Cassius. 
— North's Plutarch's Life of Brutus. 

For it is reported that Caesar answered one that did accuse Antonius and Dolabella 
unto him for some matter of conspiracy : "Tush," said he, "they be not those fat 
fellows and fine-combed men that I fear, but I mistrust rather these pale and lean 
men," meaning by Brutus and Cassius, who afterwards conspired his death and slew 
him. — North's Plutarch's Life of Marcus Antonius. 



62 JULIUS CESAR. [ACT I. 

Seldom he smiles, and smiles in such a sort 
As if he mock'd himself and scorn'd his spirit 
That could be mov'd to smile at anything. 
Such men as he be never at heart's ease 
Whiles they behold a greater than themselves, 205 

And therefore are they very dangerous. 
I rather tell thee what is to be fear'd 
Than what I fear; for always I am Caesar. 
Come on my right hand, for this ear is deaf, 
And tell me truly what thou think'st of him. 210 

[Sennet. Exeunt Caesar and his train. 

Casca. You pull'd me by the cloak ; would you speak 
with me ? 

Brutus. Ay, Casca; tell us what hath chanc'd to-day, 
That Caesar looks so sad ? 

Casca. Why, you were with him, were you not ? 215 

Brutus. I should not then ask Casca what had chanc'd. 

Casca. Why, there was a crown offer" d him : and being 
offered him, he put it by with the back of his hand, thus ; and 
then the people fell a-shouting. 

and from the more famous passages in Mer. of Fen., 1 V, i, 83, may we 
infer Shakespeare's real belief that a disregard or love of music indicated 
character? Was his estimate correct? — 201. sort = manner [Wright, 
Schmidt]? kind (of smile)? way? — Lat. sors, lot, kind, condition. Son- 
net, xxxvi, 13. — seldom. Position of adv.? Effect on emphasis? 
Abbott, 421. — I, ii, 68. Abbott, 421.— 204. be. The early Eng. phi. was 
be(n) or are(n). Often euphony determined which should be used. Is 
be here more euphonious than are? — Abbott, 300. — at. We still say at 
ease. Abbott, 144. — 205. whiles. A. S. hwil, a time. Early Eng. whiles 
is adverbial genitive. — 207. rather. Position! — 208. always I am 
Caesar. — Shakes, thought Caesar a braggart? — As You Like It, V, ii, 30. 
— 209. is deaf. Was it? — " This is one of the little touches of invention 
that so often impart a fact-like vividness to the poet's scenes." Hudson. 
See note on 182. — A good comment on Cassius' speech, 94 to 128 [Beech- 
ing]? — How did it happen that Mark Antony did not know of Caesar's 
deafness ? Or did he know ? — 214. sad = sober, grave, serious ? — Sorrow 
implied? — A. S. ssed, sated, satiated, tired, weary. Lat. satur, sated; 
satis, sufficiently. — Mer. of Ven., II, ii, 179; Comus, 509. — 215. Why, etc. 
Is this spoken in a blunt ' sour fashion ' ? See line 176. Is there good- 
natured impatience in why as an interjection or expletive? Any historic 
ground for such characterization of Casca? — crown, etc. 2 — 218. with 

lr riie man that hath no music in himself, 
Nor W not mov'd with concord of sweet sounds, 
Is fit for treasons, stratagems, and spoils. 

-r'r Milton's Tractate on Education, and 

Plato's Republic, Book III. 

- Leaving the ancient ceremonies and old customes of that solemnity, he [Antony] 

ran to the Tribune [raised platform] where Caesar was set, and carried a lawrell crown 

iu his hand, having a royall band or diadem wreathed about it, which in old time was 



SCENE II.] JULIUS C^SAR. 63 

Brutus. What was the second noise for ? 

Casca. Why, for that too. 220 

Cassius. They shouted thrice : what was the last cry for ? 

Casca. Why, for that too. 

Brutus. Was the crown offer'd him thrice ? 

Casca.. Ay, marry, was't, and he put it by thrice, every 
time gentler than other ; and at every putting-by mine hon- 
est neighbors shouted. 

Cassius. Who offer'd him the crown ? 

Casca. Why, Antony. 

Brutus. Tell us the manner of it, gentle Casca. 229 

Casca. I can as well be hang'd as tell the manner of it : 
it was mere foolery ; I did not mark it. I saw Mark An- 
tony offer him a crown ; — yet 'twas not a crown neither, 
'twas one of these coronets ; — and, as I told you, he put it 
by once : but, for all that, to my thinking, he would fain 

the back of his hand, etc. Not the palm! Very life-like, this unwill- 
ing rejection with the back of the hand! — 220. second noise, etc. " I am 
not king," repeated Cresar; "the only king of the Romans is Jupiter." 

— 224. marry. Lat. Maria; Fr. Marie, the Virgin Mary. — By Mary? 
This petty oath is very common in old writers? — Or does it mean, May 
Mary help me? — Anachronism? — Would Lord Bacon have written thus? 

— 225. other. Shakes, uses 'other' for 'an other,' 'the other,' 'each 
other,' 'otherwise,' etc. Abbott, 12. — 228. why, Antony = Antony, of 
course? — Good-natured hluntness with contempt? — 229. gentle. Force 
of this epithet? — 230. "I'll he hanged," if I can tell? — 232. Force of 
double negative in Shakes. ? in Milton ? Par. Lost, I, 335, 336. — 234. fain. 
A. S. faegan, glad. Orig. 'fixed,' and hence satisfied, suited, content. 
Skeat. Does Caesar judge correctly? He [Caesar] entered early in Feb., 
44 b.c. (at some date between Jan. 25 and Feb. 15) on a final dictator- 
ship for his life-time; a serious step, because it put an entirely new mean- 
ing on an old republican institution. He now began to allow the image 
of his head to be placed on the coinage. This had no precedent in Roman 
history; but it had always been, in the empires of the East, the special 
prerogative of the monarch. He allowed his statue to be added to those 
of the seven kings of Rome on the Capitol. He appeared on public occa- 
sions in the purple triumphal dress, and in many other little ways . . . 
allowed his person to become the centre of the pomp and ceremonial of 

the ancient marke and token of a king. When he was come to Ccesar, he made his 
fellow runners with him lift him up, and so he did put his lawrell crown upon his head 
signifying thereby that he had deserved to be king. But Cwsar, making as though 
he refused it, turned away his head. The people were so rejoiced at it, that they 
all clapped their hands for joy. Antonius again did put it on his head: Ccesar again 
refused it; and thus they we're striving off and on a great while together. As oft as 
Antonius did put this lawrell crown unto him, a few of his followers rejoyced at it : and 
as oft also as Caesar refused it, all the people together clapped their hands. . . . Ccesar 
in a rage arose out of his seat, and plucking down the chollerof his gown from his neck, 
he shewed it naked, bidding any man strike off his head that would. This lawrell crown 
was afterwards put upon the head of one of Ccesar's statues or images, the which one 
of the tribunes pluckt off. The people liked his doing therein so well, that they waited 
on him home to his house, with great clapping of hands. Howbeit Ccesar did turn 
them out of their offices for it. — North's Plutarch's Antony. 



64 JULIUS CMSAR. [act I. 

have had it. Then he offer'd it to him again; then he put 
it by again: but, to my thinking, he was very loath to lay 
his lingers off it. And then he offer'd it the third time ; he 
put it the third time by : and still as he refus'd it, the 
rabblement howted and clapp'd their cnopp'd hands and 
threw up their sweaty night-caps, and utter'd such a deal 
of stinking breath because Caesar refus'd the crown that it 
had almost chok'd Caesar ; for he swoonded and fell down at 
it : and for mine own part, I durst not laugh, for fear of 
opening my lips and receiving the bad air. 244 

Cassias. But, soft, I pray you : what, did Caesar swound ? 

Casca. He fell down in the market-place, and foam'd at 
mouth, and was speechless. 

Brutus. 'Tis very like : he hath the falling sickness. 

Cassius. No, Caesar hath it not ; but you and I 
And honest Casca, we have the falling sickness. 

Casca. I know not what you mean by that ; but, I am 
sure, Caesar fell down. If the tag-rag people did not clap 

a court." William Warde Fowler. — 238. still = always? every time? 
yet? nevertheless. — The sense of 'still' is 'brought to a stall or resting- 
place.' A. S. steal, stsel, a place, station, stall, bheat. 'The still-vex'd 
Bermoothes ' in Tempest, I, ii, 229, is the ever-vex'd Bermudas. 1 — 
240. howted. Folio has 'howted,' which Johnson changed to 'hooted.' 
What objection to the latter word? In I, iii, 28, the folio has howting. 
chopp'd. Akin to ' chip ' and ' chap ' ; Gr. Koirreiv, koptein, to cut. As 
You Like It, II, iv, 45. — 241. sweaty, etc. Coriol., II, i, 25(i. Is Shakes, 
a lover of common people? — 243. swoonded. So the folios. Most ed. 
change to 'swooned.' The d is superfluous as in 'thunder,' O. Eng. 
thunor. — A. S. swogan, to move noisily, rustle, sough, sigh (especially of 
the wind) ; Mid. Eng. swounen, to faint. — 24(i. soft = hold? not so fast ? 
— " Soft ! no haste ! " Mer. of Ven., IV, i, 311. — 247. market-place = 
the Forum? — at mouth. Skakes. has 'at nostrils,' 'at legs,' 'at door.' 
Abbott, 90. — 249. like = likely? The folios have no pause after 'like.' 
Should they be followed here? — falling sickness = epilepsy ? 2 — 

250. "Cassius tries to tie up the three into a conspirator's knot." — 

251 . we have, etc. " The disease of ' standing prostrate ' before Caesar." 
Hudson. See III, i, 3(3,57,75; V, i, 42.— 253. tag-rag. Said to be for ' tag 
ami rag.' — See hugger-mugger in Hamlet, IV, v, <i7; hurly-burly, Mac- 
beth, I, i, 3, etc. — Our ancestors were fond of such rhyming jingles as 

1 This use of 'still' is well illustrated in Dryden's celebrated ode on Alexander's 
Feast, lines 81-84 — 

War, he sang, is toil and trouble; 
Honor but an empty bubble, 
Never ending, still beginning; 
Fighting still, and still destroying. 

2 Before one of his battles in Africa, he had an attack of this kind. " For as he did 
set his men in battel ray, the falling sicknesse took him, whereunto he was given ; and 
therefore feeling it coming, before lie was overcome withall, he was carried into a 
castell not far from thence where the battel was fought, and there took his rest til the 
extremity of bis disease had left him." — North's Plutarch's CoBSOT. 



SCENE II.] JULIUS CESAR. 65 

him and hiss him, according as he pleas'd and displeas'd 
them, as they use to do the players in the theater, I am no 
true man. 253 

Brutus. What said he when he came unto himself? 

Casca. Marry, before he fell down, when he perceiv'd the 
common herd was glad he refus'd the crown, he pluck'd me 
ope his doublet and offer'd them his throat to cut. An I 
had been a man of any occupation, if I would not have taken 
him at a word, I would I might go to hell among the rogues. 
And so he fell. When he came to himself again, he said, if 
he had done or said anything amiss, he desir'd their worships 
to think it was his infirmity. Three or four wenches, where 
I stood, cried " Alas, good soul ! " and forgave him with all 
their hearts : but there's no heed to be taken of them ; if 
Caesar had stabb'd their mothers, they would have done no 

less. 265 

harum-scarum, hum-drum, namby-pamby, pell-mell, hocus-pocus, hig- 
gledy-piggledy ; and recently in portions of the U. S. we have heard 
razzle-dazzle! — 253. true = honest? truthful? — Shakes, opposes 'true 
man ' to thief in Cymbel., II, iii, 37; and in Venus and Ad., 724, etc. See 
Much Ado, III, iii, 1. — 256. common herd. A glimpse of Shakespeare's 
feeling? — plucked me. This me is colloquial ; used hy a speaker who 
vividly imagines himself an interested spectator at the spot, as if the 
action were somehow done for him in particular. The grammatical case 
of the pronoun is called the ethical dative and is frequent in Latin and 
Greek. Abbott, 220. — 257. ope. There was a tendency to drop the inflec- 
tion -en in Elizabeth's time. Abbott, 290, 343. — As to doublet, it was 
an English, not a Roman, garment; so called because of double thickness, 
or because it doubled the dress; waistcoat of double folds. So North, in 
his translation (of Plutarch) modernized classical dress. — An I had 
= if I had? and had I? — Icel. enda, moreover, if; Mid. Eng. and, if. 
The d was usually, but not always, dropped when and meant if. When 
the sense of an [or and] grew misty, it was reduplicated by the addition 
of if; so that an if, really meaning if if, is of common occurrence. Skeat, 
Abbott, 101, 102, 103, etc. See "But and if that wicked servant," etc., 
Matt., xxiv, 48. — 258. occupation = mechanic trade or employment 
[Johnson] ? action [White] ? enterprise, prompt or practical business 
ability [Wright] ? Schmidt thinks it is used in contempt. Lat. occupare, 
to lay hold of; ob (strengthening the sense); capere , to seize. — Coriol., 
IV, vi, 97.-259. at a word = at his word [Rolfe] ? at the least hint, 
quickly [Wright] ? — In Coriol., I, iii, 122, and Much Ado, II, i, 118, at a 
word — in a word. See line 104; Merry Wires, I, iii, 15; 2 Henry IV, III, 
ii, 319. — 260. worships = honors? — Spoken with good-natured ridicule? 
— To ' worship ' was once to ' honor.' In Wiclif's Bible we read, " If any 
man serve me, my Father shall worship him" ; i.e. honor him. — Tent. 
wertha, valuable; A. S. woorth, worthy; want, wares, valuables; Goth. 
skapan; A. S. sceapan, scyppan, to make, or shape; weorthscipe, honor. 
The suffix -ship = (1) state, as in ' friendship ' ; (2) act, as in ' courtship ' ; 
(3) condition, as in 'wardship'; (4) appurtenance or possessions, as in 
' lordship ' ; (5) by a metonymy of the cause, the effect or art, as in ' work- 
manship,' ' horsemanship.' Gibbs. Which sense here ? — This suffix inter- 



66 JULIUS CAESAR. {ACT I. 

Brutus. And after that, he came, thus sad, away ? 

Casca. Ay. 

Cassms. Did Cicero say anything ? 

Casca. Ay, he spoke Greek. 

Cassias. To what effect ? 270 

Casca. Nay, an I tell you that, I'll ne'er look you i' th' 
face again : but those that understood him smil'd at one 
another and shook their heads ; but, for mine own part, it 
was Greek to me. I could tell you more news too : Marullus 
and Flavius, for pulling scarfs off Caesar's images, are put 
to silence. Fare you well. There was more foolery yet, if 
I could remember it. 

Cassias. Will you sup with me to-night, Casca ? 

Casca. No, I am promis'd forth. 

Cassias. Will you dine with me to-morrow ? 280 

Casca. Ay, if I be alive and your mind hold and your 
dinner worth the eating. 

Cassius. Good : I will expect you. 

Casca. Do so. Farewell, both. [Exit. 

Brutus. What a blunt fellow is this grown to be ! 285 

He was quick mettle when he went to school. 

Cassias. So is he now in execution 
Of any bold or noble enterprise, 
However he puts on this tardy form. 

This rudeness is a sauce to his good wit, 290 

Which gives men stomach to digest his words 
With better appetite. 

Brat as. And so it is. For this time I will leave you : 



changes with -hood and with -dom ; as Ger. brUdersehaft, brotherhood ; 
A. S. abbotdom, abbotship. Trench, Gibbs, Skeat. — 2(>8. Cicero. Would 
Cassms have liked to bring him into the plot? II, i. 141, 142. Does Shakes, 
see through Cicero? — 271. an. Line 257. — 274. Greek = unintelligible? 
■ — Plutarch tells us that at the moment of the assassination, " Casca cried 
in Greek, and called his brother to help him." Is he joking here? — 
280. foolery. Has Casca real depth of character? — 279. forth = away 
from home? Mer. of Ven., II, v, 11; Abbott, 41. — 286. mettle = spirit 
[Wright, etc.] ? metal [Sidney, Walker, Collier, etc.] ? — Abstract for con- 
crete [Schmidt] ? — The word ' blunt ' in 285 leads some to spell it metal. 
See line 299; also I, i, 61. — 287. Scan.— 289. however = although ? not- 
withstanding the fact that? — puts on. Is Brutus dull not to see that it 
is put on ? — tardy form = appearance of sloth? 

290. This rudeness, etc. Well said? — Lear, II, ii, 102-104. —sauce. 
Lat. sal, salt; satire, to salt: salsa, salted. French sauce, al becoming 
mi. Skeat and Bracket. — 291. digest. Ant. and Cleop., II, ii, 177. 
— Lat. dis, apart; gerZre, to carry; digerSre, to carry apart, assimi- 
late as food, arrange, comprehend fully. — 293. And so it is. What? — 



SCENE II.] JULIUS CAESAR. 67 

To-morrow, if you please to speak with me, 

I will come home to you ; or, if you will, 295 

Come home to me, and I will wait for you. 

Cassius. I will do so : till then, think of the world. 

[EaM Brutus. 
Well, Brutus, thou art noble ; yet, I see, 
Thy honorable metal may be wrought 

From that it is dispos'd : therefore it is meet 300 

That noble minds keep ever with their likes ; 
For who so firm that cannot be seduc'd ? 
Caesar doth bear me hard ; but he loves Brutus : 
If I were Brutus now and he were Cassius, 
He should not humor me. I will this night, 305 

In several hands, in at his windows throw, 
As if they came from several citizens, 
Writings, all tending to the great opinion 
That Borne holds of his name ; wherein obscurely 
Caesar's ambition shall be glanced at : 310 

297. world. A large subject to consider! — toorld = condition of things 
[Beeching] ? — See V, v, 22. — Is the expression in the text proverbial? — 
301. noble = true to Rome, hating tyranny [Beeching]? Magnanimous? 
high-souled? — Does Cassius harp on nobility, as Brutus on honor? — 299. 
honorable. Significance here?— wrought, by me, Cassius? or by 
Csesar ? — 300. disposed. Ellipsis? — 301. likes = what they like ? whom 
they like? those whom they are like?— 302. Ellipsis? — 303. bear me 
hard = keep a tight rein on me [Staunton, Crosby, Hudson, etc.]? dislike 
me, bear a grudge against me [Craik, Schmidt, Wright, Rolfe, etc.]? — In 
Latin, segre, or graviter,ferre, and in Greek x^™* <(>«>«"', chalepos jdic- 
rein, and x a *- ewaiveiv > chalepainein, = to bear impatiently, to bear hard, to 
be angry at, dislike. — See I, ii, 32; II, i, 215; III, i, 158; Lear, III, i, 27, 
28; Ben Jonson's Catiline, IV, v. The metaphor is certainly derived from 
horsemanship in Beaumont and Fletcher's Scornful Lath/, IV, ii. — An- 
tithesis in the line? 

304. he = Brutus? or Csesar? — 305. He. Who? Cresar [Beeching]? 
Brutus [Warburton] ? — "Cassius' friends prayed him [Brutus] to beware 
of Caesar's sweet enticements, and fly his tyrannical favors." ..." The 
great honors and favors Csesar showed unto him [Brutus] kept him back, 
that of himself alone he did not conspire," etc. North's Plutarch, p. 739. 
— He should not humor me = Brutus should not cajole me [Warbur- 
ton, Craik, Wright, Hudson, etc.] ? Cffisar should not cajole me as he 
does Brutus [Johnson, Rolfe, Beeching, etc.] ? — Cassius is speaking all 
along of his own influence over Brutus [Wright]? Decide.— humor. 
See IV, iii, 119. —The 4 humors were blood, eholer, phlegm, and gall, 
causing respectively the 4 temperaments, sanguine, choleric, phlegmatic, 
and melancholy. — humor = influence by observing humors or inclinations 
[Wright] ? take hold of affection so as to make forget principles [John- 
son]? to turn and wind and manage (me) by watching (my) moods and 
crotchets, and touching (me) accordingly [Hudson] ? — this night. It 
must not be supposed that this is the night before the murder. See II, i, 
49.-30(1. hands = handwritings? Abbott, 419 «.— 310. ambition. What 



68 JULIUS CJSSAR. [ACT I. 

And, after this, let Caesar seat him sure ; 

For we will shake him, or worse days endure. [Exit. 

Scene III. The Same. A Street. 
Thunder and lightning. Eider Casca and Cicero. 

Cicero. Good even, Casca : brought you Caesar home ? 
Why are you breathless ? and why stare you so ? 

Casca. Are you not mov'd, when all the sway of earth 
Shakes like a thing unfirm ? Cicero ! 
I have seen tempests, when the scolding winds 5 

Have riv'd the knotty oaks, and I have seen 
The ambitious ocean swell and rage and foam, 
To be exalted with the threat'ning clouds: 
But never till to-night, never till now, 

Did I go through a tempest-dropping-hre. 10 

Either there is a civil strife in heaven, 
Or else the world, too saucy with the gods, 
Incenses them to send destruction. 

part is it to play iu this drama? — 311. seat him sure. Abbott, 223, 1. — 
As to the rhyme, see Abbott, 515. It makes a pleasant sound, like a strain 
of music, to end with. — See and apply here, as far as applicable, similar 
questions to those at the end of our notes on scene i. ■ — What progress has 
been made in the plot? — What of Brutus' honor? Cassius' nobility? 
What of Csesar's desires and fears? 

Scene III. — What time elapses between scenes ii and iii? — Cicero had 
a fine house on the Palatine. Why is he introduced in this storm? — 
1. brought = accompanied? escorted? — Othello, III, iv, 197; Richard II, 
I, iv, 2; Henri/ V, II, iii, 2; Genesis, xviii, 16 ; Acts, xxi, 5; 2 C'orin., 
i, 16. — What was Cicero especially desirous to know? See i. 3(3. — home. 
From what place? at what time? — 2. breathless, etc. — What has 
become of Casca's ' tardy form ' ? I, ii, 289. — 3. sway = weight or momen- 
tum [Johnson] ? balanced swing [Craik]? steady and equable movement 
[Wright]? regular motion [Beeching] ? constitution or order [Hudson]? 
dominion? — realm? — Did Shakes, believe that the earth moves? — Teut. 
base swag, to sway, swing; nasalized swing, Skeat. — 4. unfirm. Here 
the negative is more prominent than in infirm [Wright] ? Shakes, uses 
each 4 times. Abbott, 442. — 6. riv'd. Shakes, never uses riven. — From 
rive comes rift; fr. drive, drift; thrive, thrift, etc. — 8. to be = so as to 
be [Hudson]?" in order to be [Craik] ? — See Mer. of Ven., II, vii, 41, 45. — 
10. tempest-dropping-fire. So the folios. Precisely Milton's ' fiery 
deluge,' or, better, 'floods and whirlwinds of tempestuous fire'? Par. 
Lost, I, 68, 77. Mixed fire and tempest seem to drop from the sky. But 
Rowe (1709), and almost all editors since, omit the hyphen; as if Casca 
never saw lightning in a storm before! — " Retain the hyphens, and the sky 
is all aflame, a fiery deluge descending in tempest — a tempest-fire, a drop- 
ping-fire, a tempest-dropping-fire. Let us be careful how we attempt to 
improve on Shakespeare." The present editor in The Student (Univ. of 
N. Dak.), April, 1888. — 13. destruction. Scan. Very often the -ion is 



SCENE III.] JULIUS (J^ESAR. 69 

Cicero. Why, saw you anything more wonderful ? 

Casca. A common slave — you know him well by sight — 
Held up his left hand, which did flame and burn 16 

Like twenty torches join'd, and yet his hand, 
Not sensible of fire, remain'd unseorcli'd. 
Besides — I ha' not since put up my sword — 
Against the Capitol I met a lion, 20 

Who glaz'd upon me, and went surly by, 
Without annoying me: and there were drawn 
Upon a heap a hundred ghastly women, 
Transformed with their fear ; who swore they saw 
Men all in fire walk up and clown the streets. 25 

And yesterday the bird of night did sit 
Even at noon-day upon the market-place. 
Hooting and shrieking. When these prodigies 
Do so conjointly meet, let not men say 

" These are their reasons ; they are natural ; " 30 

For, I believe, they are portentous things 
Unto the climate that they point upon. 

two syl. in Shakes. — Abbott, 479. For centuries there has been a tendency 
to reduce the number of syllables in English words. 

14. more = else, besides [Craik] ? in a higher degree [Delius, Wright, 
Abbot, etc.] ? — more wonderful than usual? more wonderful than you 
have described ? — Coriol., IV, vi, 64, 65; King John, IV, ii, 42: Lear, 
V, iii, 203. — What does this question show of Cicero's turn of mind? See 
below, lines 34, 35; and II, i, 151, 152. — 15. you know. So the early 
editions. Dyce and Hudson change to you'd know. Wisely? — Craik sug- 
gests you knew. Well? — Hudson thinks the meaning to be, "you would 
recognize him as a common slave." Any reason for telling Cicero that ' — 
18. sensible of = ? — 20. against = ? — lion, who. In 
Shakes., who, as relative, is often used of brute animals, particularly in 
comparison with men. Which is used interchangeably with irho and that. 
Abbott, 264, 265. 21. glaz'd. So the folio. 'Rowe (lTOlt) changed to 
glar'd. Pope and the other editors generally have adopted the change. — 
"Glazed may be a survival of an old form of glare. ... I am informed 
that glaze in this sense survives in Cornwall, where English was chiefly 
introduced in the reign of Elizabeth." Beeching. — 22. annoying. The 
word was vastly stronger than it is now. Chaucer (in the Parson's Talt ) 
speaks of annoying a neighbor by burning his horse or poisoning him! — 
Richard III, V, iii, 157. From Lat. in odio, in hatred. — drawn upon 
a heap = crowded together [Rolfe] ? — A recollection of "Hecuba et natse 
. . . prsecipites . . . condensie . . . sedebant." sEneid, II, 515-517? — 
23. ghastly. A. S. gse&tlic, terrible; base gaist or gais, to terrify. The 
-ly is for lie, like. Skeat. — 24. swore. Casca's blunt, rough character- 
ization? or ? — transformed. Scan! — 25. all in fire. Electrical 

phenomenon ? — 26. bird of night. " The scritch-owle betokeneth alwaies 
some heavie newes." Pliny, x; Holland's Translation. — 30. reasons. 
Hudson changes this to seasons! As if one should say, "These are the 
seasons for lions to be in the street, and ghastly women in a heap, and men 
in fire," etc.! — All's Well, II, iii, 1-3. — 31. portentous. Richard II, 
II, iv, 7-10; Hamlet, I, i, 112-125; Macbeth, II, iii, 35, 42, etc.— 32. cli- 



70 JULIUS CAESAR. [ACT I. 

Cicero. Indeed, it is a strange-disposed time : 
But men may construe things after their fashion, 
Clean from the purpose of the things themselves. 35 

Comes Caesar to the Capitol to-morrow ? 

Casca. He doth ; for he did bid Antonio 
Send word to you he would be there to-morrow. 

Cicero. Good night, then, Casca : this disturbed sky 39 
Is not to walk in. 

Casca. Farewell, Cicero. [Exit Cicero. 

Enter Cassius. 

Cassius. Who's there ? 

Casca. A Roman. 

Cassius. Casca, by your voice. 

Casca. Your ear is good. Cassius, what night is this ! 

Cassius. A very pleasing night to honest men. 

Casca. Who ever knew the heavens menace so ? 44 

Cassius. Those that have known the earth so full of faults. 
For my part, I have walk'd about the streets, 
Submitting me unto the perilous night, 
And, thus unbraced, Casca, as you see, 
Have bar'd my bosom to the thunder-stone ; 
And when the cross blue lightning seem'd to open 50 

mate. Gr. «Ai>a, klinin, slope, region, zone; fr. Kkiveiv, klinein, to lean, 
slope. — 34. construe. Accent! I, ii, 42. — 35. clean from = quite 
away from? completely at variance with? — Is from emphatic? — Line 04; 
II, i,' 196; Hamlet, III, ii, 18. — See clean gone in Psalms, lxxvii,8; Isaiah, 
xxiv, 19. — 40. not to walk in = not fit to walk in? Abbott, 405. — 
41. by your voice. Cassius " is a great observer " ? I, ii, 198; I, iii. 131. 
— 42. what = what kind of [Abbott] ? what a .' [Wright, Hudson, etc.] ? 
Abbott, 86. What, in exclamations, for ivhat a (and also for what kind of) 
is repeatedly found in Shakes. — 47. submitting me = exposing myself 
[Rolfe] ? self and selves are often omitted in Elizabethan English. Abbott, 
228. — Lat. sub, under, mittere, to send; submittSre, to place under.— 
48. unbraced = unfastened ? unbuckled? unbuttoned? — Hamlet, II, i, 
78. — What was the Roman dress? How worn? Is Shakes, thinking of 
the Roman, or of the English dress? I, ii, 257. — Gr. 0pnxiW, brachion; 
Lat. brachium, arm; Old Fr. bras, braz. Century Dictionary. The mod- 
ern sense is, something that holds fast? — 49." thunder-stone = the 
belemnite, arrow-head, or ringer stone. It is a hollow fossil, about as 
large as the finger and tapering to a point at one end, the internal bone of 
an extinct species of sepia or cuttle-fish. It was once believed to be the 
veritable thunder-bolt. These 'bolts' were feared more than the light- 
nings, which Lear terms ' vaunt-couriers to oak-cleaving thunderbolts.' 
See Cymbel. IV, ii, 271, 272; Othello, V, ii, 235; Lear, IV, vii, 35 ; Par. 
Lost, I, 175, 'the thunder, winged with red lightning.' — 50. cross = zig- 



SCENE III.] JULIUS CjESAB. 71 

The breast of heaven, I did present myself 
Even in the aim and very flash of it. 

Casca. But wherefore did you so much tempt the heavens '.' 
It is the part of men to fear and tremble, 
When the most mighty gods by tokens send 55 

Such dreadful heralds to astonish us. 

Cassms. You are dull, Casca, and those sparks of life 
That should be in a Roman you do want, 
Or else you use not. You look pale and gaze 
And put on fear and cast yourself in wonder, 60 

To see the strange impatience of the heavens : 
But if you would consider the true cause 
Why all these fires, why all these gliding ghosts, 
Why birds and beasts from quality and kind, 
Why old men, fools, and children calculate, 65 

Why all these things change from their ordinance 
Their natures and preformed faculties 
To monstrous quality, — why, you shall find 

zag? So ' the most terrible and nimble stroke Of quick cross lightning,' 
and 'the deep dread-bolted thunder.' Lear, IV, vii, 33, 34, 35. — blue. 
What of Shakespeare's observation? — 55,56. Antithesis? — 60. put on. 
What sense? I, ii, 288. — cast. So the folio. In Meas.for Meas., IV, ii, 
194, we read, " Put not yourself into amazement'' ; in Much Ado, IV, i, 
14_', 'attir'd in wonder'; Rape of L., 1601, 'attir'd in discontent.' — cast 
yourself iu = throw yourself into a state of ? cast your mind about in a 
state of? dress yourself in ? — Many editors change cast to case; as if lie 
had masked or boxed up himself! — 63. gliding. Ghosts, angels, deities, 
glide rather than walk! So in Par. Lost, XII, 628, 629, "The cherubim 
descended, on the ground Gliding meteorous." — 64. from quality and 
kind = contrary to their disposition and nature [Wright] ? change from 
their office (or calling) and nature [Hudson] ? contrary to their real 
natures [Meiklejohn] ? — Line 35. — Iu Every Man in His Humor, we 
read, 'spirits of our kind and quality,' quoted by Fleay as one of 17 
proofs that -Ben Jonson aided Shakes, in writing this play.— "But kind 
hath lent him such a quality." Geo. Gascoigne, 1535-1577. — Lear, II, ii, 
104; Ant. and Cleop., V, ii, 264. — Lat. qualis, of what sort; qualitas, 
sort.— A. S. cynd, nature. — 65. Why old men, fools, and children 
calculate = why old men become fools, and children prudent [White, 
who reads ' fool 'for ' fools '] ? So Mitford, Lettsom, Hudson, Rolfe, Dyce, 
the Camb. ed., Beeching, etc. The folio (1623) has 'Fooles.' Delius inter- 
prets thus : " Persons of the most various mental capacities, old men, fools, 
and children, speculate upon the future." So, substantially, Craik and 
Longman. — Shakes, repeatedly in this play and elsewhere speaks, or 
his characters speak, contemptuously of old men in ' second childishness 
and mere oblivion.' See II, i, 130; Lear, IV, vii, 60, 84; Hamlet, II, ii, 
195-199, 218, etc.; -4s You Like It, II, vii, 163-166. — calculate = com- 
pute future events [Schmidt]? exercise wise forethought? — Lat. cal- 
culus, a pebble, a stone used iu reckoning; fr. calx, calcis, limestone. 
— (16. ordinance = ordained condition ? law of being ? — 67. preformed = 
intended by original design for certain special ends [Wright] ? pre- 



72 JULIUS CMSAR. [ACT I. 

That heaven hath infus'd them with these spirits, 

To make them instruments of fear and warning 70 

Unto some monstrous state. Xow could I, Casca, 

Name to thee a man most like this dreadful night 

That thunders, lightens, opens graves, and roars 

As doth the lion — in the Capitol, 

A man no mightier than thyself or me 75 

In personal action, yet prodigious grown 

And fearful, as these strange eruptions are. 

Casca. 'Tis Caesar that you mean; is it not, Cassius ? 

Cassias. Let it be who it is : for Romans now 
Have thews and limbs like to their ancestors ; 80 

But, woe the while ! our fathers' minds are dead, 
And we are govern'd with our mothers' spirits ; 
Our yoke and sufferance show us womanish. 

Casca. Indeed, they say the senators to-morrow 
Mean to establish Caesar as a king; 85 

adapted? as originally formed? — 69. Scan! — 71. monstrous state = 
monstrous or unnatural state of things [Rolfe, Schmidt, etc.] ? abnormal 
condition of things [Wright, Hudson, etc.]? Tempest, HI, lii, 95; Lear, 
II, ii, 17(i. — Present meaning of monstrous? — 74. as doth the lion, etc. 

— "This must refer to the lion in line 20." Beeching. — Is Caesar com- 
pared to a lion? or is it the night that roars? Is the lion supposed to be 
in the Capitol, as lions were kept in the tower at London ? Caesar " goeth 
about like a roaring lion "? — Craik interprets thus: "Caesar roars in the 
Capitol as doth the lion." But does he also thunder, lighten, and open 
graves? or does he simply ' roar '? "Was he addicted to roaring? Wright 
thinks that in this play the tower of London is, to Shakespeare's mind, a 
sort of representative of the Capitol. See II, i, 111. A sufficient punctua- 
tion may help us to the meaning! Try it. — 75. me. ' Than' is followed 
by the objective ease in Prov., xxvii, o; and in Par. Lost, II, 209. So is as 
in Ant. and Cleop., Ill, iii, 14? Abbott, 205, 210, etc. — 7(>. prodigious = 
portentous, monstrous [Wright, Rolfe, etc.] ? vast in size ? — Prodigy is 
probably from prod-agium ; where Lat. pro, is old prod, forth, before, and 
agium means a saying, as in the compound ad-agitim, a saying, an adage. 
The orig. sense is ' a saying beforehand.' Skeat. Except in Two Gent, of 

IV*'., II, iii, 4, it is said to mean in Shakes, portentous; i.e., ominous of 
great evil to come. — 79. Let it be = let he; i.e.. no matter [Wright, Hud- 
son, etc.]? let the man he (who he is) [Craik]? — 80. thews = muscles, 
sinews [Wright, Hudson, etc.] ? muscular powers [Rolfe] ? — From tu, to 
he strong; Sans-. '//, to swell, increase (as in Lat. tu-midus, swelling); 
Tent, base thu, to lie strong, to swell; A. S. theaw, habit; thedwas, man- 
ners. The sense of bulk, strength, comes straight from the root, and is 
the true one. Skeat. — Thigh is from same root. — 81. while=time. 
Supply l<> or for f Abbott, 137, 230. — A. S. hwil, a time. Allied probably 
to Lat. qui-es, rest; hence A. S. dat. plu. hwilum, whilom, at times. 
Skeat.— -82. with= by? See with in line 195, Act III, sc. ii. Abbott, 193. 

— 83. sufferance = patience [Wright]? bearing with patience, modera- 
tion [Schmidt] '.' sufferings? Mer. of Ven., I, iii, 100. — 85, etc. It was 
alleged that an ancient prophecy in the Sibylline books, which were burned 



SCENE III.] JULIUS CAESAR. 73 

And he shall wear his crown by sea and land, 
In every place, save here in Italy. 

Cassius. I know where I will wear this dagger then ; 
Cassius from bondage will deliver Cassius : 
Therein, ye gods, you make the weak most strong ; 90 

Therein, ye gods, you tyrants do defeat : 
Nor stony tower, nor walls of beaten brass, 
Nor airless dungeon, nor strong links of iron, 
Can be retentive to the strength of spirit ; 
But life, being weary of these worldly bars, 95 

Never lacks power to dismiss itself. 
If I know this, know all the world besides, 
That part of tyranny that I do bear 
I can shake off at pleas-ure. [Thunder still. 

Casca. So can I : 

So every bondman in his own hand bears 100 

The power to cancel his captivity. 

Cassius. And why should Caesar be a tyrant then ? 
Poor man ! I know he would not be a wolf, 
But that he sees the Romans are but sheep : 
He were no lion, were not Romans hinds. 105 

Those that with haste will make a mighty fire 
Begin it with weak straws : what trash is Rome, 
What rubbish and what offal, when it serves 
For the base matter to illuminate 
So vile a thing as Caesar ! But, grief, 110 



with the Capitol B.C. 82, declared that Parthia was unconquerable except 
by a kins, and this prediction was made the ground for an attempt to make 
Caesar king. See II, ii, 9o, 94; and Plutarch, p. 740. Had Cicero this in 
mind, line 36? Did Cassius know of it? — 88. where. Caesar's heart 
[Delius]? Cassius' [Wright]? — Cassius speaks like ' an antique Roman.' 
• Wright. Was he an Epicurean? therefore likely to justify suicide? See 
V, i, 75. In Cymbel., V, iv, 4, 5, 0, we have " cured by the sure physician, 
Death, who is the key To unbar these locks." See Hamlet, V, ii, 329; 
Macbeth, V, viii, 1; Ant. and Cleop., IV, xv, 87. — then=at that time? 
in that case ? — What of the ' high Roman fashion ' of suicide ? — 
90. Therein. Wherein ? — 96. power. Dissyl.? Abbott, 480. — 100. Casca 
for the first time discovers that he is a bondman [Beeching]? — bondman. 
The bond in this word naturally suggests cancel in the next line? — The 
two words go together in Richard III, IV, iv, 77; Cymbel., V, iv, 28; 
Macbeth, III, ii, 49. — 101. cancel. From Lat. cancelli, lattice.— 
103. Poor = unfortunate? pitiable? insignificant? despicable? — Judge 
from what follows, whether Cassius speaks in pity or in scorn ! — 
105. hinds = deer? servants? — In zoology a hind is a female red deer, the 
male being called the stag. — 108. offal. Compounded of off and fall '. 
Formerly used of chips falling from a cut log? Sense here? Present 



74 JULIUS CAESAR. [ACT I. 

Where hast thou led me ? I perhaps speak this 
Before a willing bondman; then I know 
My answer must be made. But I am arm'd, 
And dangers are to me indifferent. 

Casca. You speak to Casca, and to such a man lis 

That is no fleering tell-tale. Hold, my hand: 
Be factious for redress of all these griefs, 
And I will set this foot of mine as far 
As who goes farthest. 

Cas.sins. There's a bargain made. 

Now know you, Casca, I have mov'd already 120 

Some certain of our noblest-minded Romans 
To undergo with me an enterprise 
Of honorable-dangerous consecpience ; 
And I do know, by this they stay for me 
In Pompey's porch : for now, this fearful night, 125 

There is no stir or walking in the streets; 
And the complexion of the element 

meaning? — 11-'!. answer, etc. =1 shall have to answer for my words 
[Wright]? — 115. "This final stroke of trusting to his honor has won 
Casca." Beeching. — such . . . that. Present usage after suehf — Orig- 
inally the proper corresponding word to such was which. Abbott, 279. — 
116. fleering = grinning' [Schmidt] ? sneering [Wright]? flattering and 
mocking [Hudson]? deceitful, or treacherous [Rolie]? mocking, grinning 
[Beeching]? — rJaiw.flira, to titter, giggle, laugh at nothing. Some form 
of the word fleer is found four times in Shakes. — Hold = take hold of 
[Theobald, Craik, Staunton]? stop [Wright]? here (take my hand) [Rolfe] ? 

— Reflexive, as in V, iii, 85? — 117. factious = active [Johnson] ? in fact 
(a conspirator) [Coleridge]? actively mutinous or seditious [Wright]? join- 
ing a cause, taking part in a quarrel [Schmidt] ? active in forming a party 
[Hudson] ? efficient? — be factious = conspire, make a party [Beeching] ? 
See II, i, 77. Lat. fac-ere, to do; /actio, Ft. faction, a doing, a taking 
sides, a faction. — all these. Name them. — griefs = grievances? sor- 
rows? Ill, ii, 211; IV, ii, 42, 4(5; 2 Henry IV, IV, ii, 59, 113. — lis, 119. 
Hurti VIII, I, ii, 42, 4:!. — Bargains ratified by hand-shaking? Winter's 
Tale, IV, iv, 372. — 121. some certain. Redundancy? omit? — noblest- 
miurted. Note on 1, ii, 301. — 122. undergo = undertake? So in Mid. 
X. Dream, I, i, 75; Winter's Tale, IV, iv, 532; 2 Henry IV, I, iii, 54. 

— 123. honorable dangerous. So the folio. Most editors join the two 
by a hyphen. Honorable = honorably? Abbott,'!. Does it mean honor- 
able, but dangerous ? V, i, 59. — by this = by this time ? 

125. Pompey's porch. Here Csesar was murdered. " It was in one 
of the porches about the theatre, in which there was a certain place full 
of seats for men to sit in ; where also was set up the image of Pompey." 
North's Plutarch, p. 996. A porch was a portico or colonnade, a long 
walk covered by a roof supported by rows of columns. Often it was 
furnished with elegant scats and decorated with objects of art. — See lines 
14(1, 151. — 126. or = nor? Which is preferable? — 127. complexion = 
outward appearance? character. Complexis complectitur totum statum 
corporis, complexion comprehends the whole state of the body. " It 



SCENE III.] JULIUS CESAR. 75 

In favor's like the work we have in hand, 

Most bloody, fiery, and most terrible. 

Casca. Stand close a while, for here comes one in haste. 130 
Cassius. 'Tis China ; I do know him by his gait ; 

He is a friend. 

Enter Cinna. 

China, where haste you so ? 

Oinna. To find out you. Who's that ? Metellus Cimber ? 

Cassius. 'No, it is Casca ; one incorporate 
To our attempts. Am I not stay'd for, Cinna ? 135 

Cinna. I am glad on't. What fearful night is this ! 
There's two or three of us have seen strange sights. 

Cassius. Am I not stay'd for ? tell me. 

Cinna. Yes, you are. 

meant (1) the general state of the body; (2) any one of the several 
' humors ' ; (3) the expression of the face, especially the color ; (4) the 
general state of the mind." Beeching. — Lat. com-, together; plecte're, 
to plait; complecti, to twine around; Eng. complexion, texture, color, 
outward look. — element = sky or heaven [Roll'e] ? sky [Wright]? air 
and sky that surrounds [sic] us [Schmidt]? atmosphere? See Comus, 
299. — Lat. elementum, first principle. The ancients believed in four; 
fire, air, earth, and water, giving rise respectively to the four 'humors' 
or moistures of the body, choler, blood, melancholy, phlegm. From the 
preponderance of these respectively arose the four 'complexions' or tem- 
peraments, the choleric, sanguine, melancholic, and phlegmatic. Perfec- 
tiou of character depended upon a proper blending of these ingredients in 
the constitution. — 128. in favor's. The folio has Is /tutors. Rowe reads 
Isfev'roas; Hudson, following Steevens, 7s favor'd, i.e., is featured; 
Johnson, In favor's, i.e., In aspect is. Faroe, in the sense of feature or 
face, is of frequent occurrence in Shakes. See I, ii, 87. —Reed, Beeching, 
and others argue plausibly for the reading, Is feverous. But would not 
that be rather feeble ? — 129. bloody, fiery. Walker, Beeching, and 
some others connect these by a hyphen. — 130. close = so as not to stir; 
still, pent up, as it were, in one's self [Schmidt] ? out of sight? near by? 

— Cinna. Lucius Cornelius Cinna. His father was a leader of the popular 
party, and four times consul. His sister was Cajsar's first wife. Caesar 
made him praetor. — 131. gait. From get; Icel. gata, a way, path, road. 
Its use to express manner of walking arises from its being popularly 
connected with the word go. Skeat. — 133. find out you = to find you 
out [Rolfe] ? So the editors generally. Are the expressions equivalent'.' 
Abbott, 210. — Does the order of words here favor the right emphasis? 

— Metellus. Plutarch calls him Tullius; Seneca, correctly, Tillius. — 
134. incorporate = of our body [Craik] ? privy to [Meiklejohn] ? closely 
united [Wright] ? — " Cassius holds Casca firm to his ' bargain.' " Bet ch- 
ing. — 135. stay'd for = awaited ? staid, or stay'd f — on't. See on 
I, ii, 07; Abbott, 180. What is he glad of? — 137. There's two. "The 
quasi-singular verb precedes the plural subject. . . . When the subject 
is as yet future, and, as it were, unsettled, the 3d pers. sing, might be 
regarded as the normal inflection . . . particularly in the case of ' There 
is.'" Abbott, 335. — 130. Note that Cassius has done with talk of the 



76 JULIUS CAESAR. [act i. 

Cassius, if you could 

But win the noble Brutus to our party — 140 

Cassius. Be you content : good Cinna, take this paper, 
And look you lay it in the praetor's chair, 
Where Brutus may but find it; and throw this 
In at his window ; set this up with wax 
Upon old Brutus' statue : all this done, 145 

Repair to Pompey's porch, where you shall find us. 
Is Decius Brutus and Trebonius there ? 

Cinna. All but Metellus Cimber ; and he's gone 
To seek you at your house. Well, I will hie, 
And so bestow these papers as you bade me. 150 

Cassius. That done, repair to Pompey's theatre. 

[Exit Cinna. 
Come, Casca,' you and I will yet ere day 
See Brutus at his house.: three parts of him 
Is ours already, and the man entire 
Upon the next encounter yields him ours. 155 

Casca. 0, he sits high in all the people's hearts ! 
And that which would appear offense in us, 
His countenance, like richest alchemy, 
Will change to virtue and to worthiness. 

weather. — 142. praetor's. Lat. prse, before; ilor, a goer; fr. ire, to 
go; s/i, to go. Skeat. — The praetor was properly a civil magistrate. His 
duties were chiefly judicial, but also to some extent executive. He was 
at times a sort of ' third consul.' At first (415, rj.c.) there was but one; 
later four; afterwards eight ; and finally, at this time, sixteen. Through 
the influence of Caesar, Brutus had received the chief prsetorship over his 
rival Cassius. See on I, ii, 33. Shakes, is closely following the historians, 
especially Plutarch. — 143. Where Brutus may but find it = taking 
care that Brutus may find it [Beeching] ? where Brutus only may find it 
[Wright] ? where Brutus cannot but [Abbott] ? where Brutus alone may 
find it? where Brutus may merely find it? Abbott, 128; I, i, 43; ii, 114; 
V, i, 80. — 145. old 1 Brutus'. See on I, ii, 155. Is this, too, authentic 
history? — 146. See on line 125. — 147. Decius. It was Decimus. — Is. 
See "ii line 137. — 149. hie. A. S. higian, to hasten; Lat. d-tus, quick; 
Gr. Ki-etv, kieiu, to go, move. — 151. theatre. Built by Pompey the 
Great, 55 B.C., in the Campus Martins. It was the first stone theatre in 
Rome. It was copied from one at Mitylene, and was capable of seating 
40,000 spectators. Splendid dramatic exhibitions, gymnastic contests, 
gladiatorial combats, and fights in which five hundred African lions were 
slain, marked the opening of this theatre. See Class. Diet., etc. 

153. parts = fourths ? Abbott, :;."..'!. — 154. is. Subject? agreement? 
— 158. alchemy. Anachronism? — Arabic al, the; Gr, xv^^<>; chemeia, 

1 Marcus Brutus came of tliat Junius Brutus, for whom the ancient Romans made 
his statue at' brass to lie set up in the capitol with the images of the kings, holding a 
naked sword in his hand, because he had valiantly put down the Tarquins from the 
kingdom of Rome. North's Plutarch, p. 991. 



SCENE III.] JULIUS CAESAR. 77 

Cassius. Him and his worth and our great need of hiro 160 
You have right well conceited. Let us go, 
For it is after midnight ; and ere day 
"We will awake him and be sure of him. [Exeunt. 

chemistry; fr. xvpeCa, chumeia, a mingling; fr. x«o, cheo, I pour; root xv, 
chu, pour. Great were the expectations of the alchemists; and especially 
they hoped to find the art of turning base metals to sold. See ' Alchemy' 
in the Cyclopedias. Sonnet xxxiii, i; King Juki), III, i, 78-81; Ant. 
and <'leop., I, v, 37. — 161. conceited = conceived ? formed an idea of. — 
Lat. con, together, or with; capere, to take. — Explain psychologically 
concept, conceit, etc. See III, i, 193; Othello, III, iii, 149; Mer. of Fen., 
I, i, 92. — 162. midnight. Is the time up to Caesar's death carefully 
marked? II, i, 3, 101, li»2, 213, etc. — Progress made in the plot thus far? 
Value of this scene? — What of the storm as a revealer of character? its 
effect on Casca, Cicero, Cassius, Brutus (II, i , 44) ? Cassius as an artful 
man ? of Casca as influenced by Cassius' rhetoric ? of Cicero's cool philos- 
ophy ? — What of Act I as a preparation ? 



78 JULIUS CAESAR. [ACT II. 



ACT II. 

Scene I. Rome. Brutus' Orchard. 

Enter Brutus. 

Brutus. What, Lucius, ho ! 
I cannot, by the progress of the stars, 
Give guess how near to day. Lucius, I say ! 
I would it were my fault to sleep so soundly. 
When, Lucius, when ? awake, I say ! what, Lucius ! 5 

Enter Lucius. 

Lucius. Call'd you, my lord ? 

Brutus. Get me a taper in my study, Lucius : 
When it is lighted, come and call me here. 

Lucius. I will, my lord. [Exit. 

Brutus. It must be by his death : and for my part, 10 

I know no personal cause to spurn at him, 
But for the general. He would be crown'd : 

Act II, Scene I. Supposed time of the action of this scene? — What 
references to the storm? — Orchard = garden [Craik, Dyce, Hudson, 
etc.]? — A. S. ortgeard, orceard = wort-yard = a yard of worts or vege- 
tables; from Icel. urt, herbs; gardr, a yard or garden. Lat. hortus, gar- 
den, is related to yard, but not to ort ! Skeat. — III, ii, 247. — 1. what! 
An exclamation to call attention. Does it mean, What is the matter? — 
Is any impatience implied here? — Tempest, IV, i, 33; Abbott, 73 a. — 
3. day = daylight ? — 5. When = when are you coming? impatience? 
Richard IT, I, i, 162. — 7. study. He lives on books and theories? V, i, 
99; IV, iii, 250, 271. — taper. Perhaps from Ir. tapar = W. tampr, a taper, 
torch; ef. Skt. \/tap, burn. Century Diet. — 10. It must be. What 
must be? — The following speech greatly puzzled Coleridge. He says, "I 
do not at present see into Shakespeare's motive, his rationale, or in what 
point of view he meant Brutus' character to appear." Do you? — Has 
the tradition of Junius Brutus any weight with him? See note on line 40. 
— 11. personal. Brutus was under great obligation to Caesar for personal 
favors. Personally, as between him and Caesar, he had no objection to 
him? — See Merivale and other historians. — 12. general = community 
or people [Craik, Kolfe, etc.]? public cause [Hudson]? — Hamlet, II, ii, 
424; Mens, for Meas., II, iv, 27. —would be. From what does Brutus 



SCENE I.] JULIUS CAESAR. 79 

,How that might change his nature, there's the question. 
It is the bright day that brings forth the adder ; 
And that craves wary walking. Crown him ? — that ; — 15 
And then, I grant, we put a sting in him, 
That at his will he may do danger with. 
The abuse of greatness is, when it disjoins 
Remorse from power : and, to speak truth of Caesar, 
I have not known when, his affections sway'd 20 

More than his reason. (But 'tis a common proof, 
That lowliness is young ambition's ladder, 
Whereto the climber upward turns his face; 
But when he once attains the upmost round, 
He then unto the ladder turns his back, 25 

Looks in the clouds, scorning the base degrees 
By which he did ascend.) So Caesar may. 
Then, lest he may, prevent. And, since the quarrel 

infer this wish? — 14. bright, etc. Does prosperity or adversity better 
show the evil that may lurk in man? — brings forth. Into life? from 
its hiding-place? — 15. that craves. What craves? the newly hatched 
adder? bright day? Beeching thinks the latter. — Is 'that' relative or 
demonstrative ? which better suits the metre ? the sense ? — Crown him ? 
— that. Ellipsis ? Is the word ' that ' equivalent to do that ? — The folio 
reads " Crowne him that." Is such a reading allowable? May we inter- 
pret it to mean, Crown him king? — 17. do danger = do what is danger- 
ous ? do mischief ? cause danger ? Abbott, 303. — with. Proper to end a 
sentence with a preposition? The best writers do it? Is Brutus' rea- 
soning sound? Would kingship have increased Caesar's power? — 
19. Remorse = conscience or conscientiousness [Hudson] ? tender feeling 
[Wright] ? mercy [Rolfe] ? compunction for wrong done ? — Lat. re, again; 
mordere, to bite ; Eng. remorse, the gnawing of the ' worm that dieth not ' ; 
pain or anguish for guilt. In Shakes, it evidently often means relenting, 
or pity, or tenderness of feeling. King John, II, i, 478; Mer. of Ven., IV, 
i, 20; Tempest, V, i, 76. But in Macbeth, I, v, 42, we have the usual mod- 
ern meaning? — 20. affections = feelings [Schmidt]? passions [Hudson]? 
desires [Beeching] ? likes and dislikes ? — We use ' affect ' in the sense of 
desire f — 21. reason = conscience or conscientiousness, or moral reason 
[Hudson] ? judgment ? — proof = experience [Rolfe, etc.] ? fact or the 
thing proved [Hudson] ?— Twelfth N., Ill, i, 135. — 23. climber. Climb 
is akin to clamp, and means to ascend by grasping. Skeat.— The editors, 
following Warburton (1747), generally insert a hyphen after this climber. 
Wisely ? Does upward modify ' climber ' ? or ' turns ' ? — Does ' climber ' 
imply 'upward'? Can a person climb down? May 'turns upward' 
imply reverence that is the antithesis of ' scorning,' line 26 ? See ' high- 
sighted,' II, i, 118. — 24. upmost. Present usage? — 26. base degrees 
= lower steps [Hudson, Rolfe, etc.]? Lat. de, down;" gradus, a step, 
grade; Fr. degre, a step. — Henry VIII, II, iv, 112. — '28. quarrel = 
cause [Hudson]? cause of complaint [Wright]? ground of objection? — 
Prayer Book, Psalm xxxv, 23; Richard II, I, iii, 33. Bacon, Essay on 
Marriage and Single Life, says, "A man may have a quarrel [reason] to 
marry when he will." So Holinshed, "He thought he had a good quarrel 



80 JULIUS CAESAR. [ACT II. 

Will bear no color for the thing he is, 

Fashion it thus : that what he is, augmented, 30 

Would run to these and these extremities ; 

And therefore think him as a serpent's egg 
• Which, hatch'd, would, as his kind, grow mischievous, 
; And kill him in the shell ! 

Reenter Lucius. 

Lucius. The taper burnetii in your closet, sir. 35 

Searching the window for a flint, I found 
This paper, thus seal'd up ; and, I am sure, 
It did not lie there when I went to bed. [Gives him the letter. 

Brutus. Get you to bed again ; it is not day. 
Is not to-morrow, boy, the first of March ? 40 

Lucius. I know not, sir. 

Brutus. Look in the calendar, and bring me word. 

Lucius. I will, sir. [Exit. 

Brutus. The exhalations whizzing in the air 
Give so much light that I may read by them. 45 

[Opens the letter and reads. 

to attack him." — Lat. queri, to complain; querela, complaint; Fr. que- 
relle. — 29. bear no color = find no pretext [Rolfe] ? not allow of any 
excuse [Wright] ? carry upon the face of it no colorable pretext [Meikle- 
john]? have no plausibility? — Iu Henry VIII, I, i, 178, and Ant. and 
Cleop., I, iii, 32, color = pretext. 

33. kind = species [Mason, Craik, Rolfe, Schmidt, etc.]? nature 
[Johnson]? See I, iii, 64. — A. S. cynde, natural, native, inborn. The 
orig. sense is ' born ' ; whence cynd, nature ; Mid. Eng. kund, kind, nature, 
sort, character. Aryan v'gan, to generate. Skeat. — 34. shell. " The line 
itself, as it were, killed in the shell ! " Craik. — See Macbeth, IV, ii, 83. — 
40. to-morrow. Does Brutus ' take no note of time ' ? See I, iii, 162. — 
first of March. So the folio. Theobald (1733) and nearly or quite 
all subsequent editors have changed ' first ' to ' Ides.' But Brutus has not 
slept for a month, and his head is not very clear, as the preceding soliloquy 
shows ; or he might have wished to throw Lucius off the track of suspicion. 
In Skeat's North's Plutarch, p. 113, "Cassius asked him (Brutus) if he 
were determined to be in the Senate-house the first day of the month of 
March ; because he heard say that Caesar's friends should move the council 
that day that Caesar should be called king by the Senate." Mr. Wright has 
no doubt that Shakes, wrote ' first of March,' yet Mr. Wright prints ' Ides,' 
like the rest! — 41. I know not. Ignorant? or too modest to correct the 
error? — 42. calendar. "Shakes, has read in Plutarch that Cresar had 
reformed the calendar and made it accessible." Beeching. — See I, ii, 
17, note. — 44. exhalations = meteors [Wright]? flashes of lightning 
[Hudson]? — In Henry VIII, III, ii, 226, we read, "I shall fall like a 
bright exhalation in the evening"; in Rom. and Jul., Ill, v, 13, "It is 
some meteor that the sun exhales." Says Plutarch of thunders, lightuiugs, 
flashes, blasts, and whirlwinds, " Aristotle supposeth that all these meteors 



SCENE I.] JULIUS CAESAR. 81 

"Brutus, thou sleep 'st : aioake, and see thyself. 

Shall Rome, etc. Speak, strike, redress!'' 1 

"Brutus, thou sleep' st: awake!" 

Such instigations have been often clropp'd 

Where I have took them up. 50 

" Shall Rome, etc." Thus must I piece it out : 

Shall Rome stand under one man's awe ? What, Rome ? 

My ancestors did from the streets of Rome 

The Tarquin drive, when he was call'd a king. 

" Speak, strike, redress ! " Am I entreated 55 

To speak and strike ? Rome, I make thee promise, 

If the redress will follow, thou receivest 

Thy full petition at the hand of Brutus ! 

Reenter Lucius. 

Lucius. Sir, March is wasted fifteen days. 

[Knocking within. 

Brutus. 'Tis good. Go to the gate ; somebody knocks. 60 

[Exit Lucius. 
Since Cassius first did whet me against Csesar, 
I have not slept. 

Between the acting of a dreadful thing 
And the first motion, all the interim is 

come of a dry exhalation." — 46. see thyself. Did he remember that 
Cassius said this? I, ii, 48-63. — Know thyself ? — 50. took. Abbott, 346. 
See 'mistook,' I, ii, 45; Winter's Tale, I, v, 246. — 53. ancestors. 
Changed by Hudson and Dyce to 'ancestor.' Rightly? I, ii, 155. — ■ 
54. drive. 510 b.c. ? — 56. make thee = cause thee to? make to thee a? 

— The second folio has 'the.' May it be the true reading? —46-58. The 
unpractical, credulous, conceited, illogical man! — 58. full. Threefold? 

— 59. fifteen. So the folios. Theobald and most other editors change 
it to 'fourteen.' Judiciously? — The Romans reckoned inclusively, and 
Rolfe thinks Shakes, has followed the classic usage. Says White, "In 
common parlance Lucius is correct." Hudson affirms that this conversa- 
tion occurred March 14. Lines 40, 192, 194. — wasted. So in Milton's 
sonnet to Lawrence, 'help waste a sullen day.' — 60. 'Tis good = very 
well? ' all right ' ? — 61. Picture in the metaphor? — 62. How long? The 
incomplete lines are thought by Mr. Fleay to indicate that the play "has 
been greatly abridged for the purpose of representation." But do not 
these broken lines indicate breaks in the thought, or pauses in the utter- 
ance? See note in our ed. of Hamlet, I, i, 129, 132, 135; v, 73, etc. — 
62-69. The chaos in his soul! Like Macbeth's in somewhat similar circum- 
stances, Macbeth, I, iii, 134-142? — 63, 64. acting . . . first motion. 
Inverted order of events! indicative of mental disturbances? — acting = 
performance? carrying into execution ? — motion = movement towards 
performance? impulse? motive? King John, I, i, 212; IV, ii, 255. — 
64. interim. This Latin adverb (originally meaning in the mean time) 



82 JULIUS CAESAR. [ACT II. 

Like a phantasma, or a hideous dream : 65 

(The Genius aud tliQ mortal instruments 
i Are then in council} and the state of man, 
4irke to a little kingdom, suffers then 

The nature of an insurrection. 

Reenter Lucius. 

Lucius. Sir, 'tis your brother Cassius at the door, 70 

Who doth desire to see you. 

Brutus. Is he alone ? 

Lucius. No, sir, there are nioe with him. 

is said by Schmidt to occur 14 times in Shakes, in the sense of ' intervening 
time,' or 'interval.' — 65. phantasma = illusion [Beeching]? night- 
mare [Wright] ? vision [Rolfe] ? phantom [Hudson] ? creature of the imag- 
ination [Meiklejohn] ? daydream [Schmidt]? — Is there not a feeling of 
horror, or at least a sense of ugliness, in the word ? The sound is against 
it? — See 'phantasm' in Par. Lout, II, 743; IV, 803. Gr. ^avTaaixa, phan- 
tasma, vision, spectre; Qaiveu; phainein, to show; lit. to cause to shine. 
Skeat. — 66. the genius and the mortal instruments = the ruling 
spirit and the 'corporal agents,' as they are called in Macbeth, I, vii, 80? 
the reasonable soul and the bodily powers [Wright] ? the power that 
watches for man's protection, and the passions that excite him to deeds 
[Johnson] ? the hesitating will and the threatening passions [Ferrier] ? 
the directive power of the mind and the ministerial faculties [Hudson] ? 
the contriving aud immortal mind, and the earthly passions [Craik] ? the 
mind and the bodily organs [Beeching] ? the good or evil spirit (sup- 
posed to direct the actions of man) and the instruments (subject to death) 
[Schmidt]? — Rolfe concurs substantially with Wright. — See lines 175, 
176; III, i, 167-169.— Empedocles of Sicily (B.C. 444?) is said to have 
taught that every man comes into life with two angels, a good aud a bad. 
To this belief does Horace allude in Epist., II, ii, 187-189? — Brutus has an 
evil one? See IV, iii, 280; Tempest, IV, i, 27; Com. of Er., V, i, 332; 
Twelfth N., Ill, iv, 142; Macbeth, III, i, 56, etc.; Coriol., I, i, 94, 95; 
Othello, I, iii, 269; Ant. and Cleop., II, iii, 19-21; Shakes. Sonnet, 144; 
Plato quoted in Plutarch's Morals (Holland) , 834, 835 ; Heb., i, 14. Bearing 
in mind Shakespeare's fondness for vivid personification, what/interpreta- 
tion shall we prefer? — 67. state of a man. So the folios. Nearly all 
editors omit a. Well? — state of man = man regarded as a body politic 
[Deighton] ?— state = commonwealth, kingdom [Beeching]? — In Mac- 
beth, I, iii, 140, we have 'single state of man.' In Troilus and Cres., II, 
iii, 165, 166, we read, 

" That, 'twist his mental and his active parts, 
Kingdom'd Achilles in commotion rages." 

So, in 2 Henry IV, IV, iii, 100, ' this little kingdom, man ' ; Lear, III, i, 10, 
' strives in this little world of man.' So "Esse hominem minorem mun- 
dum," That man is a lesser world, Picus of Mirandola, quoted by Pater, 
The Renaissance. Kin;/ John, IV, ii, 246. So "Man is a microcosm," 
"My mind to me a kingdom is," etc. So, in Bunyan's Holy War, the 
town of Mansoul. — 70. hrother. Cassius had married Junia Tertia (or 
Tertulla), half sister of Brutus, said to have survived her husband (>4 
years, dying a.d. 22. — 72. moe. Used often in Shakes, as the plural of 



SCENE I.] JULIUS CAESAR. 83 

Brutus. Do you know them ? 

Lucius. No, sir ; their hats are pluck'd about their ears, 
And half their faces buried in their cloaks, 
That by no means I may discover them 75 

By any mark of favor. 

Brutus. ^ Let 'em enter. [Exit Lucius. 

They are the faction. \0 conspiracy, 
Sham'st thou to show thy dang'rous brow by night, 
When evils are most free ? 0, then by day 
Where wilt thou find a cavern dark enough 80 

To mask thy monstrous visage ? A Seek none, conspiracy; 
Hide it in smiles and affability : 
For if thou path, thy native semblance on, 
Not Erebus itself were dim enough 
To hide thee from prevention. 85 



'more.' Mo or moe relates to number; more, to size. Scotch ma or meh' 
is compar. of many; and mair of much. V, iii, 101; Mer. of Ven., I, i, 
108; As You Like It, III, ii, 246. — 73. hats. We need not here imagine a 
modern dress. The Roman cap or hat, pileus or pileum, or the broad- 
brimmed felt hat petasus, could be pulled down. I, ii, 231). — Pluck' d is 
similarly used in Winter's Tale, IV, iv, 633, (534. — 75. that. I, i, 45. — 
may. May originally meant 'to be able.' Abbott, 307. Ellipsis here? 
Abbott, 283. — 76. favor. I, ii, 87. " Particularly used of the exterior of 
persons, = figure, features, countenance." Schmidt. I, iii, 128. — 77. fac- 
tion = party? clique? Is the word used disparagingly here? — I, iii, 117; 
Hamlet, V, ii, 226. — 78. sham'st. Often intrans. or pass, in Shakes.; as, 
" I shame To wear a heart so white," Macbeth, II, ii, 64, 65 ; Winter's Tale, 
II, i, 87; King John, I, i, 104. A. S. scamian is intrans. — 70. when 
evils are most free. Superstition that evil things are privileged to 
walk abroad in the night? Milton's Comus, 432; Hamlet, I, v, 9, 10; 
Lear, III. iv, 107, 108; Mid. N. Dream, III, ii, 380-384. — 83. path=walk 
[Johnson]? — So track is used. "Any noun or adjective could be con- 
verted into a verb by the Elizabethan authors." Abbott, 290. — Drayton 
(1563-1631) twice uses path with cognate accusative. Shakes, in Winter's 
Tale, IV, iv, 556, has ' unpath'd waters.' But Southern, Coleridge, Walker, 
Dyce, and others read put; White prefers had'st; Hudson, pass. The 
quarto of 1601 prints hath. From vpat, to go; Sansc. path, to go; Gr. 
naTelv, patein, to tread. Does not the thought require a verb equivalent to 
walk? — on = being on? in? — 84. Erebus. Gr. "Epe/3o?, Erebos, a cov- 
ered place; from epe^eiv, erephein, to cover. — Erebus (utter darkness) was 
spoken of as encompassing the realm of Nyx (night) as a great mystery 
might comprehend a less one. Scull. — "A place of nether darkness, being 
the gloomy space through which the souls passed to Hades." Wb. — 
Sometimes it was a general term comprehending the whole of Hades ; 
sometimes, the third of the five divisions of the infernal regions. In 
Shakes, it apparently signifies ' the blackness of darkness.' Par. Lost, 
11,883; Mer. of Ven., V, i, 87. — 85. prevention = discovery [Hudson]? 
detection and frustration [Wright] ? hinderance? — " To prevent is to come 
before, and so is equivalent in effect with hinder, which is literally to 
make behind. I make that behind which I get before." Craik. — III, i, 



84 JULIUS CAESAR. [ACT II. 

Enter the conspirators, Cassius, Casca, Decius, Cinna, 
Metellus, and Trebonius. 

Cassius. I think we are too bold upon your rest: 
Good morrow, Brutus ; do we trouble you ? 

Brutus. I have been up this hour, awake all night. 
Know I these men that come along with you ? 

Cassius. Yes, every man of them, aud no man here 90 
But honors you ; and every one doth wish 
You had but that opinion of yourself 
Which every noble Roman bears of you. 
This is Trebonius. 

Brutus. He is welcome hither. 

Casshis. This, Decius Brutus. 

Brutus. He is welcome too. 95 

Cassius. This, Casca ; this, Cinna ; and this, Metellus 
Cimber. 

Brutus. They are all welcome. 
What watchful cares do interpose themselves 
Betwixt your eyes and night ? 99 

Cassius. Shall I entreat a word ? \_They whisper. 

Decius. Here lies the east : doth not the day break here ? 

Casca. No. 

Cinna. 0, pardon, sir ! it doth ; and yon gray lines 
That fret the clouds are messengers of day. 

19; II, i, 28. — 86. too bold upon. Ellipsis? — Bacon uses the same 
expression in Advancement of Learning. — 91. honors. A skilful appeal 
to Brutus' vanity or ruling passion? — 91-93. Repetition of I, ii, 51-58? 
See I, ii, 82, 85, etc. Here, and in the next few lines, and generally in this 
play, Shakes, follows closely Plutarch's account. — 100. Who whisper? 
ahout what?— 101. Here lies the east, etc. Why this side 'talk ? Dra- 
matic value of this ' interlude ' ? Is it to remind us of the time of night? 
to contrast Brutus and Cassius with the rest? to show Brutus that they 
are not listening to the whispering? to turn aside anxious thought hy 
casual chat as in Macbeth, I, vi? to prevent suspicions on the part of 
possihle eavesdroppers? to till in the time till Brutus and Cassius finish 
their private conference? 

104. fret = mark with interlacing lines like fret-work [Wright] ? adorn ? 
dissolve? vex? — See 'this majestical roof, fretted with golden tire' in 
Hamlet, II, ii, 296. — " It is needful the reader should think what ' break ' 
means in ',day-break ' — what is broken, and by what. . . . Here ' fret' 
means all manner of things; primarily, the rippling of clouds, as sea by 
wind ; secondarily, the breaking it asunder for light to come through ; . . . 
also 'a certain degree of vexation, some dissolution, much order, and 
extreme beauty!'" Ruskin, in Arrows of the Chace, ii, 257. — In Rom. 
and Jul., Ill, v, 7, 8, we read, " What envious streaks Do lace the severing 
clouds in yonder east?" — A. S.frsetwian, to adorn. Another fret is fr. 



SCENE I.] JULIUS CAESAR. 85 

Casca. You shall confess that you are both deceiv'd. 105 
Here, as I point my sword, the sun arises, 
Which is a great way growing on the south, 
Weighing the youthful season of the year. 
Some two months hence up higher toward the north 
He first presents his fire ; and the high east 110 

Stands, as the Capitol, directly here. 

Brutus. Give me your hands all over, one by one. 

Cassius. And let us swear our resolution. 

Brutus. No, not an oath : if not the face of men, 

Low Lat. /errata, an iron grating; Lat. ferrum, iron. In architecture 
fret = " an ornament consisting of small fillets intersecting each other at 
right angles." Still another fret is fr. A. S. fretan, to eat; Ger. fressen. 
Has Ruskin blended the three meanings? — 107. a great way growing 
on the south = far to the south (of east) [Craik, Rolfe, etc.]? encroach- 
ing on the south [Wright] ? getting nearer to the south [Meiklejohn] ? 
verging or inclining toward the south [Hudson] ? — To these interpreta- 
tions we may answer as follows: It is the 15th of March; within a week 
comes the vernal equinox, when the sun rises exactly in the east. On the 
15th, the sun is not far to the south of east, nor encroaching on the south, 
nor getting nearer to the south, nor verging toward the south. The south 
is behind it, the north is in front of it; it is growing or gaining on the 
south; that is, getting the better of it in the race, putting the south 
further and further behind its back! The sun " rejoiceth as a strong man 
to run a race." Psalms, xix, 5. — 108. weighing = on account of, or 
taking into account [Craik] ? when we consider [Rolfe] ? because of [Beech- 
ing] ? in accordance with [Hudson] ? See our article in the column 
Shakespeariana, in The Student Magazine, Univ. N. Dak., May, 1888. — 
youthful season = beginning? spring? — Before the time of Julius 
Caesar, the year began March 1. He (B.C. 44) made it begin Jan. 1. The 
civil or legal year in England formerly commenced on the 25th of March. 
In 1752, ' New Style,' which had been decreed by Parliament the preceding 
year, went into effect in England, and Sept 3 was counted Sept. 14. Pope 
Gregory XIII had made the change in 1582. See ' style ' in the unabridged 
dictionaries. — 110. high east = perfect east [Hudson] ? full or exact 
east? What metaphor or mental picture in highf — So we say 'due east.' 
— 111. Capitol. It is to be noted that the Tower of London, which, more 
nearly than any other building, corresponded to the Capitol (Lat. Capi- 
tolium), temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus, on the southern summit of 
the Capitoline Hill) lay due east of the Globe Theatre. The listener at 
the theatre during this play would frequently think of the Tower ! — The 
Capitoline Temple, built by Tarquinius Superbus, in honor of Jupiter, 
Juno, and Minerva, was thrice burned and rebuilt. It was at first of the 
Etruscan order of architecture; afterwards, Corinthian, as some of the 
columns still testify. — 112. all over = all included [Parry, Craik, Rolfe, 
etc.] ? throughout the whole company, one after the other [Wright, Deigh- 
ton, etc.]? — May it not mean once again? May we not suppose that he 
took each by the hand when they first came in, and that now, having just 
heard from Cassius, in a whisper, the resolution they have formed, he 
joyfully seizes each hand again in recognition of union and in pledge of 
mutual support? Cassius' remark, "And let us swear our resolution," 
is very significant here. To the pledge implied in the hand-grasp, he 
would add an oath, and hence the word And! — 114. not an oath, etc. 



86 JULIUS CAESAR. [ACT II. 

The sufferance of our souls, the time's abuse, — 115 

If these be motives weak, break off betimes, 

And every man hence to his idle bed ; 

So let high-sighted tyranny range on, 

Till each man drop by lottery. But if these, 

As I am sure they do, bear fire enough 120 

To kindle cowards and to steel with valor 

The melting spirits of women, then, countrymen, 

What need we any spur but our own cause, 

To prick us to redress ? what other bond 

Than secret Romans, that have spoke the word, 125 

And will not palter ? and what other oath 

Than honesty to honesty engag'd, 

That this shall be, or we will fall for it ? 

Swear priests and cowards and men cautelous, 

So Plutarch. — How promptly Brutus takes the lead! — face. Warhurton 
would change face to fate; Mason, to faith; Malone, to faiths. Brutus 
thought he saw in men's faces, misery, or discontent and disgust, or self- 
reproach and shame, at Caesar's tyranny? — 115. Sufferance. Iu Coriol., 
I, i, 22; Meas.for Meas., Ill, i, 80, sufferance means 'suffering.' But see 
I, iii, 83. — abuse = wrong-doing which prevails [Wright] ? abuses [Craik, 
etc.]? Supply the ellipsis. — 117. idle bed = bed now unoccupied [Deigh- 
ton] ? bed of an idle man? We still say 'sick bed,' and in Trail, and 
Ores, we have 'lazy bed.' — 118. high-sighted = supercilious [Schmidt] ? 
with lofty looks [Wright]? able to see from on high [Beeching] ? — In 
Psalm, cxxxi, 1; Prov., xxx, 13; Isaiah, v, 15, etc., lofty eyes and lofty 
looks are spoken of with censure. Wright thinks we have here ' an im- 
plied comparison of tyranny to an eagle or bird of prey, whose keen eye 
discovers its victim from the highest pitch of its flight'; Hudson, 'the 
capriciousness of a high-looking and heaven-daring Oriental tyranny.' — 
See line 26 of this scene. — Range is technically used of hawks, falcons, 
and eagles, flying for prey? — See I, i, 73, etc. — 119. lottery = chance? 
now one, now another, as if by lottery [Beeching] ? nod and whim of a 
tyrant, as on the hazards of a lottery [Hudson] ? — Allusion to decimation 

— the selection of every tenth soldier, in a general mutiny, for punishment 
[Steevens] ? — Timon of A., V, iv, 31. — these = these men ? these motives ? 

— 120. bear fire. Explain this metaphor. Cf. IV, iii, 110. Note the word 
' steel ' in the next line! and, later, ' melting.' 

123. what need we = in what respect need we? what need have we 
of? why need we? — The commentators prefer the last. They cite 
Mark, xiv, 03, "What need we any further witnesses?" also Ant. and 
Cleop., V, ii, 317; Cymbel., III, iv, 31. — Abbott, 253. — 125. secret = who 
will hold their tongues [Wright]? bound to secrecy [Craik]? hidden, con- 
cealed ? Hamlet, I, v, 122 ; Bom. and Jul., II, iv, 208 ; Much Ado, I, i, 184. 

— Ellipsis before secret? — spoke. So stole in line 238. Abbott, 343. — 
126. palter = trifle, babble [Meiklejohn] ? quibble, equivocate [Wright]? 

— "Be these juggling fiends no more believed, That palter with us in a 
double sense." Macbeth, V, viii, 20, etc. See note in our edition of Mac- 
beth. So Ant. and Cleop., HI, xi, 63; Coriol., IH, i, 58. — 127. honesty = 
honor? Ill, i, 127; IV, iii, 67. — 128. this. What ? — 129. priests. This 
philosopher did not much respect the reverend clergy ? — cautelous 



SCENE I.] JULIUS CAESAR. 87 

Old feeble carrions and such suffering souls 130 

That welcome wrongs ; unto bad causes swear 

Such creatures as men doubt ; but do not stain 

The even virtue of our enterprise, 

Nor th' insuppressive mettle of our spirits, 

To think that or our cause or our performance 135 

Did need an oath ; when every drop of blood 

That every Roman bears, and nobly bears, 

Is guilty of a several bastardy, 

If he do break the smallest particle 

Of any promise that hath pass'd from him. 140 

Cassius. But what of Cicero ? shall we sound him ? 
I think he will stand very strong with us. 

Casca. Let us not leave him out. 

China. No, by no means. 

Metellus. 0, let us have him, for his silver hairs 
Will purchase us a good opinion 145 

And buy men's voices to commend our deeds : 
It shall be said, his judgment rul'd our hands ; 

= cautious and wary to the point of cowardice [Craik] ? crafty [Wright, 
etc.] ? — Lat. cavere, cautum, to be on one's guard. " The transition from 
caution to suspicion, and from suspicion to craft and deceit, is not very 
abrupt." Wright. See our edition of Hamlet, I, iii, 15. — 130. carrions. 
Lat. caro, carnis, flesh; Low Lat. caronia, a carcass. — 132. creatures. 
Spoken disdainfully? — doubt. See our edition of Hamlet. II, ii, 110- 
119. — 133. even = equable and uniform [Hudson] ? without flaw or blem- 
ish, pure [Wright, Schmidt] ? honest [Parry] ? firm and steady [Deighton, 
Craik, Rolfe]? See Henry VIII, III, i, 37.— 134. insuppressive = insup- 
pressible? Inexpressive = inexpressible, in As You Like It, III, ii, 10; 
incomprehensive = incomprehensible, in Troil. and Ores., Ill, iii, 198. See 
plausive, Hamlet, I, iv, 30. See Lycidas, 176; Hymn on Nativity, 110; 
Abbott, 3. — 135. (stain) ... to think = (stain so as) to think? (stain) 
... by thinking? Ill, i, 39, 40; Richard II, TV, 21, 22; Abbott, 281, 356. 
Is the infinitive form a verbal noun (i.e., gerund) here? — or . . . or. Is 
or ever used for either in prose? — Or is short for other, not either? — 
136. did need = ever could need [Abbott]? needed? needs? Abbott, 370. 
— 138. several = separate. — several bastardy = special or distinct act 
of baseness, or of treason against ancestry and honorable birth [Craik] ? 
In Milton's C'omns, line 25, several = separate. So several in Hymn on the 
Nativity, line 234. — Low Lat. separate, from Lat. separare, to separate; 
fr. .se, apart; parare, to provide; separ, separate. — bastardy = illegiti- 
macy ? Tempest, III, i, 42 ; V, i, 232. —141. Cicero. Born Jan. 3, 106 B.C. 
How old, therefore? — sound = test by ringing, or striking as with a 
hammer, to ascertain the tone? test by fathoming, as by casting lead and 
line, to ascertain the depth? — 142. stand strong = strongly concur? be 
a pillar of strength? — 144. silver. Does this word suggest ' purchase ' in 
the sense of buy? — 145. purchase = obtain for, bring in to [Schmidt] ? 
See Mer. of Ven'., our edition, II, ix, 42. — 145. opinion. Syllabicate I I, 
iii, 13; Hamlet, II, ii, 5. Lat. opinio often meant the opinion expressed by 
others concerning one, his reputation. Mer. of Yen., I, i, 91; 1 Henry IV, 



88 JULIUS CAESAR. [ACT II. 

Our youths and wildness shall no whit appear, 
But all be buried in his gravity. 

Brutus. 0; name him not : let us not break with him ; 150 
For he will never follow anything 
That other men begin. 

Cassius. Then leave him out. 

Casca. Indeed he is not fit. 

Decius. Shall no man else be touch'd but only Caesar ? 

Cassius. Decius, well urg'd : I think it is not meet, 155 
Mark Antony, so well belov'd of Caesar, 
Should outlive Caesar : we shall find of him 
A shrewd contriver ; and, you know, his means, 
If he improve them, may well stretch so far 
As to annoy us all : which to prevent, 160 

Let Antony and Caesar fall together. 

Brutus. Our course will seem too bloody, Caius Cassius, 
To cut the head off and then hack the limbs, 
Like wrath in death and envy afterwards ; 
For Antony is but a limb of Caesar : 165 

Let us be sacrificers, but not butchers, Caius. 
We all stand up against the spirit of Caesar ; 
And in the spirit of men there is no blood : 

0, that we then could come by Caesar's spirit, 

1, i, 77. — 148. youths. See behaviors, I, ii, 39. Why not loudnesses f 
Unpleasant sibilation? — shall = will? The two were not well differen- 
tial ed ? See Psalm, xxiii, 6. Present usage? — ■whit. A. S. loiht, wight, 
person ; whit, bit. Note the diminutive sound to express diminutive things. 
— 150. break = break silence ? communicate ? Any recollection of ' break- 
ing bread' at ' holy communion '? Macbeth, I, vii, 48; Ant. and Cleop., I, 
ii, 184. — The reason for not attempting to enlist Cicero is thus stated by 
Plutarch: " They were afraid that he, being a coward by nature, and age 
also having increased his fear, he would quite turn and alter their purpose, 
and quench the heat of their enterprise." Why should Shakes, assign a 
different motive? Had he read more truly Cicero's character? Could 
Cicero have been safely trusted as a confederate? See I, iii, 14, 34. Meri- 
vale, III, p. 150, Appleton's edition, 1887. — 153. See line 143. Explain 
Casca's change. — 157. of = in? Abbott, 172. — 158. shrewd = sharp? 
mischievous? cunning? evil? dangerous? A. S. scredwa, the biter; fr. 
Teut. base skru, to cut, tear. See our edition of Hamlet, I, iv, 1; As You 
Like It, I, i, 151; V, iv, 105; Mer. of Yen., Ill, ii, 238. — contriver = 
schemer? plotter? II, iii, 14; Mer. of Yen., IV, i, 343. — 160. annoy. 
See I, iii, 22. — which to prevent. See similar argument by Brutus, 
lines 28-34. What of their insight into character? 

162-183. How choice the language of Brutus, yet how shallow his knowl- 
edge of human nature! — 163. envy = malice? In Shakes, it usually 
means ' settled hatred ' ? See Mer. of Ven., Ill, ii, 277 ; IV, i, 121 ; Coriol., 
Ill, iii, 3. See line 178.— 166. Scan! So line 178. Abbott, 468. See our 
note on Macbeth, IV, ii, 72. — 169. come by. See line 259; Mer. of Ven., 



SCENE I.] JULIUS CAESAR. 89 

And not dismember Caesar ! But, alas, 170 

Caesar must bleed for it ! And, gentle friends, 
Let's kill him boldly, but not wrathfully ; 
/Let's carve him as a dish fit for the gods7"\ 
vNot hew him as a carcass fit for hounds-K 
And let our hearts, as subtle masters do, 175 

Stir up their servants to an act of rage, 
And after seem to chide 'em. This shall make 
Our purpose necessary and not envious : 
Which so appearing to the common eyes, 
We shall be call'd purgers, not murderers. 180 

And for Mark Antony, think not of him ; 
For he can do no more than Caesar's arm 
When Caesar's head is off. 

Cassius. Yet I fear him ; 

For the ingrafted love he bears to Caesar — ■ 

Brutus. Alas, good Cassius, do not think of him : 185 

If he love Caesar, all that he can do 
Is to himself, take thought, and die for Caesar : 
And that were much he should ; for he is given 
To sports, to wildness and much company. 

Trebonius. There is no fear in him ; let him not die ; 190 
For he will live, and laugh at this hereafter. [Clock strikes. 

Brutus. Peace ! count the clock. 

I, i, 3. Did they 'come by' it? 1 — 175. subtle masters. E.g. Queen 
Elizabeth! — 176. servants = our hands ? See line (i(j; III, i, 168, 169, 
170; Macbeth, I, vii, 80. — 177. make = cause to be? cause to seem? 
Craik substitutes 'mark' for 'make,' as suggested by Collier's MS. cor- 
rector. Well? — 180. purgers. In illustration of this word, 'Pride's 
Purge' of the Long Parliament is cited. Macbeth, V, ii, 28; iii, 51, 52. 
— 181, 182, 183. Here we have an apt illustration of the subtle historic 
irony that pervades this play [Hudson] ? — 183. I fear. Pope inserted 
do. Rightly ? — 184. ingrafted = set deep in his nature [Beeching] ? 
deeply seated [Deighton]?— 187. take thought = be anxious. Often 
so in the Bible, as in Matt., xi, 25, take no thought; where the Revised 
Version happily substitutes, Be not anxious. Hamlet, III, i, 85; Two Gent. 
of Ver., I, i, 69; Sonnet, xliv; Ant. and Cleop., Ill, xiii, 1.— 188, 189. 
See I, ii, 199, 200. — 188. he should = for him to do? — 190. f ear = 
cause of fear? Mid. N. Dream, V, i, 21. Is Cassius overruled every 
time he disagrees with Brutus? — 192. clock. The Roman clock (water- 
clock, clepsydra) did not strike the hours. See Diet. Greek and Roman 
Ant. It was like an hour-glass, but water was used instead of sand. 

1 What happened was this, that all they did was to dismember Caesar ; they could 
not come by his spirit ; that survived the butchery, and asserted itself at the battle of 
Philippi. What an effective way, then, of exhibiting the unconscious irony of Brutus' 
speech, and showing the terrible blunder of the whole conspiracy to write the stage 
direction, " Enter the ghost of Caesar " ! — Beeching. 



90 JULIUS CsESAR. [ACT II. 

Cassius. The clock hath stricken three. 

Trebonius. "lis time to part. 

Cassius. ' But it is doubtful yet, 

Whether Caesar will come forth to-day, or no ; 
For he is superstitious grown of late, 195 

Quite from the main opinion he held once 
Of fantasy, of dreams and ceremonies : 
It may be, these apparent prodigies, 
The unaccustom'd terror of this night, 

And the persuasion of his augurers, 200 

May hold him from the Capitol to-day. 

Deems. Never fear that : if he be so resolv'd, 
I can o'ersway him ; for he loves to hear 
That unicorns may be betray'd with trees, 

— stricken. Elsewhere Shakes, uses struck, stroke, strook, strooke, 
strucken, stroken. Abbott, 344. Present usage? — Note how carefully 
the time is markeil from March 14 to the hour of Caesar's death ! I, iii, 
163; II, i, 3, 101, 102, 213; iii, 114; iv, 24. — 194. Whether. Scan ! The 
critics make it metrically equivalent to where in I, i, 61. — 195. supersti- 
tious. On this point see Merivale! At once quite sceptical and credu- 
lous? — 196. from = away from [Craik] ? contrary to? in consequence 
of ? — I, iii, 35. See Macbeth, our ed., Ill, i, 99, 131, and iv, 36. — main 
= strong and confident [Wright] ? leading, strong, fixed, predominant 
[Johnson]? general [Malone, Mason, Smith, etc.]? — Aryan V magh, to 
have power. — See the phrase ' might and main.' See Mer. of Fen., our ed., 
IV, i, 67. — 197. fantasy = fancy ? imagination? — Sansc. bhd, to shine; 
Gr. ^rt-09, pha-os, light ; Qaiveiv, phainein, to shine; <f>avTa(rCa, phantasia, a 
making visible ; imagination. Fancy is a corruption of the fuller form 
fantasy, often spelled phantasy. — ceremonies = religious observances 
[Wright]? omens or signs deduced from ceremonial rites [Malone] ? — See 
II, ii, 13, where it seems to have the same meaning. — Sansc. /carman, 
an action; Lat. cserimonia, a ceremony, a rite. — In Bacon {Advance, of 
Learn.) II, x, 3, the word is said to mean superstitious rites. — Different 
in I, i, 65 ; Mer. of Ven., V, i, 204. — 198. apparent = which have appeared 
[Beeching] ? clearly appearing ? manifest to all [Deighton] ? — The word is 
said to mean here more than seeming. So in Richard II, I, i, 13; 1 Henry 
IV, II, iv, 202; King John, IV, ii, 93; 1 Henry VI, II, i, 3; and apparent 
queen = clearly appearing queen, in Par. Lost, IV, 608. — 200. augurers. 
Lat. avis, a bird; -gur, telling (akin to Lat. garruhts, talkative). An 
augur deduced his predictions from observations on the flight and notes 
of birds. Hence to augur = to infer from omens what the future will be. 
The Teutonic suflix -er denotes the personal subject in a multitude of verbs. 
North's Plutarch uses the word ' augurers.' — 203. o'ersway. " Antonius 
called him venefica, witch, as if he had enchanted Crasar." Bacon, Essay 
27. — 204. unicorns, etc. With back against a tree, the hunter on whom 

Yet Ca?sar, free-thinker as he was, could not escape the general thraldom of super- 
stition. He crawled on his knees up the steps of the temple of Venus to propitiate 
Nemesis. Before the battle of Pharsalis, he addressed a prayer to the gods whom he 
denied in the Senate and derided among' his associates. He appealed to the omens 
before passing the Rubicon. He carried about with him in Africa a certain Cornelius, 

— a man of no personal distinction, but whose name might be deemed auspicious on 
the battle-field of Scipio and Sulla. — Merivale, II, 446. 



SCENE I.] JULIUS C^SAR. 91 

And bears with glasses, elephants with holes, 205 

Lions with toils and men with flatterers ; 

But when I tell him he hates flatterers, 

He says he does, being then most flattered. 

Let me work ; 

For I can give his humor the true bent, 210 

And I will bring him to the Capitol. 

Cassius. Nay, we will all of us be there to fetch him. 

Brutus. By the eighth hour : is that the uttermost ? 

China. Be that the uttermost, and fail not then. 

Metellus. Caius Ligarius doth bear Caesar hard, 215 

Who rated him for speaking well of Pompey : 
I wonder none of you have thought of him. 

Brutus. Now, good Metellus, go along by him : 
He loves me well, and I have given him reasons ; 
Send him but hither, and I'll fashion him. 220 

Cassius. The morning comes upon's : we'll leave you, 
Brutus. 
And, friends, disperse yourselves ; but all remember 
What you have said, and show yourselves true Bomans. 

Brutus. Good gentlemen, look fresh and merrily ; 
Let not our looks put on our purposes, 225 

the unicorn is charging, dodges aside at the critical instant, and the 
momentum carries the animal's whole weight, horn foremost, against the 
tree, and the sharp horn is driven fast into the trunk ! So Steevens 
explains. Spenser (Fserie Q., II, v, 10) represents a lion as playing the 
same trick on a unicorn! Similarly Chapman (1557-1634), in his Bussy 
D' Ambois. — Lat. unus, one, cormt, horn. — Did accounts of the rhinoceros 
give rise to the helief in unicorns? — See Tempest, III, iii, 21. — 205. See 
Rich's Diet, of Antiquities, p. 718, under venabuhim, illustration of this. — 
glasses = mirrors (on which the hear's attention was fixed long enough 
to allow the hunter to catch or kill him) ? tigers also, according to John 
Maplet's A Greene Forest, 1567. — holes = pitfalls? — Pliny, Nat. Hist., 
Book VIII, Chap, viii, is referred to. — Both these modes of hunting 
described in Somerville's Chase t Somerville was a Warwickshire poet 
(1692-1742) . — 206. toils. French toile, a cloth; Lat. tela, a web; fr. 
tex-la, something woven; fr. tex-Zre, to weave. Bracket and Skeat. — 
208, 209. Scan! — " At the end of a line -ed is often sounded after -er-." 
Abbott, Hi, 512.— 212. there = at Caesar's house? at the Capitol? — See 
II, ii, 108, etc. — Caesar's house was where? — 213. eighth. Roman, or 
English mode of counting the hours? The Roman day began at 6? — 
215. hear . . . hard. I, ii, 303. — This, and the substance of the interview 
with Ligarius in II, i, 309-335, are from Plutarch. — The 2d folio has 
'hatred' instead of 'hard.' — 216. rated. Swedish rata, to find fault, 
blame? — 218. by him = past his house? beside him? — Where was his 
house? — 219. reasons. For what? — 222. disperse. Why? — 224. fresh 
and merrily. Better freshly f or merry ? — This coupling of the adjec- 
tive form with the adverbial is frequent in Shakes. — This advice in keep- 
ing with line 82? Abbott, 397. — 225. put on. Metaphor? I, ii, 288.— 



92 JULIUS CAESAR. [ACT II. 

But bear it as our Roman actors do, 
With untir'd spirits and formal constancy : 
And so good morrow to you every one. 

[Exeunt all but Brutus. 
Boy ! Lucius ! — Fast asleep ? It is no matter ; 
Enjoy the honey-heavy dew of slumber: 230 

Thou hast no figures nor no fantasies, 
Which busy care draws in the brains of men ; 
Therefore thou sleep'st so sound. 

Enter Portia. 

Portia. Brutus, my lord ! 

Brutus. Portia, what mean you ? wherefore rise you now ? 
It is not for your health thus to commit 235 

Your weak condition to the raw cold morning. 

Portia. Nor for yours neither. You've ungently, Brutus, 
Stole from my bed : and yesternight, at supper, 
You suddenly arose, and walk'd about, 

Musing and sighing, with your arms across, 240 

And when I ask'd you what the matter was, 
You star'd upon me with ungentle looks ; 
I urg'd you further ; then you scratch'd your head, 
And too impatiently stain p'd with your foot; 
Yet I insisted, yet you answer'd not, 245 

But, with an angry wafture of your hand, 

This idea, too, is from Plutarch. — 220. actors. Masked? — 227. formal 
constancy = constancy in outward form [Craik] ? dignified self-pos- 
session [Wright] ? energy beneath the appearance of repose [BeechingJ ? 
230. honey-heavy . . . slumber. Is this an echo of ixeAi<l>pu>v v-nvos, 
meliphron hupnos, slumber that is honey to the mind ? Iliad, ii, 34. 
Richard III, IV, i, 83. — The kindness of Brutus to his boy Lucius is touch- 
ing. See IV, iii. — Collier changed honey-heavy dew to heavy honey-dew, 
because honej'-dew "is a well-known glutinous deposit on the leaves of 
trees." Well? — 231. figures = imaginary forms [Wright]? mistaken 
ideas? — Cf. "scrape the figures out of your husband's brain," Merry 
Wives, IV, ii, 191, 192. — Lat. ji{n)ijerc, to form, fashion, feign; figura, a 
thing made. — fantasies. See 197; Hamlet, I, i, 23. — nor no. Abbott, 
401). — 233. Portia. Brutus' second wife. He had divorced his first. 
Portia had lost one husband, the consul Bibiilus, by whom she had a son. 
Yet she was married to her cousin Brutus very young. — 23(5. condition 
= constitution ? health? temper? disposition? state of mind? state of 
body? Line 254. — 237. ungently = roughly ? unkindly? ignobly? — 
Portia's anxious curiosity and her description in the twenty lines following 
are strikingly like those of Lady Percy in 1 Henry IV, II, iii, 33-00. — 
238. stole. See line 125. Abbott, 343. — 240. arms across. Napoleon's 
posture in deep thought ! Rape of L., line 16G2. — 240. wafture. The 



SCENE I.] JULIUS CAESAR. 93 

Gave sign for me to leave you : so I did ; 

Fearing to strengthen that impatience 

Which seem'd too much enkindled, and withal 

Hoping it was (but an effect of humor, ^ 250 

Which sometime hath his hour with every manj 

It will not let you eat, nor talk, nor sleep, 

And could it work so much upon your shape 

As it hath much prevail'd on your condition, 

I should not know you, Brutus. Dear my lord, 255 

Make me acquainted with your cause of grief. 

Brutus. I am not well in health, and that is all. 

Portia. Brutus is wise, and, were he not in health, 
He would embrace the means to come by it. 

Brutus. Why, so I do. Good Portia, go to bed. 260 

Portia. Is Brutus sick ? and is it physical 
To walk unbraced and suck up the humors 
Of the clank morning ? What, is Brutus sick, 
And will he steal out of his wholesome bed, 
To dare the vile contagion of the night 265 

And tempt the rheumy and unpurged air 
To add unto his sickness ? No, my Brutus ; 
You have some sick offense within your mind, 
Which, by the right and virtue of my place, 
I ought to know of : and, upon my knees, 270 

I charm you, by my once-commended beauty, 

folio has wafter. Compare the old pronunciation of nature ! — Elsewhere 
Shakes, uses waft alone. — Waft comes from -wave, as drift from drive, 
rift from rive, etc. — 248. impatience. Syllables? Tendency to shorten. 
— 249. withal. I, i, 22. — 250. humor. See note on I, ii, 305. — 251. his. 
I, ii, 124. — 254. condition. Line 236. — 255. Dear my lord. Here the 
two words my and lord are virtually a compound noun. Often so in 
Shakes. So good my lord, good my' knave, sweet my mother, good my 
brother, etc. Abbott, 13. Fr. cher monsieur. "Art thou that my lord 
Elijah?" 1 Kings, xviii, 7. See note on Gentle my lord in Macbeth, III, ii, 
27. — 259. come by. Line 169. — 261. sick. This word in England now 
implies nausea? Not so in Shakes, nor the Bible. — physical = whole- 
some, salutary, medicinal ? natural ? belonging to physic ? — 262. un- 
braced. I, iii, 48. Scan. — 263. dank = damp ? — A nasalized form of the 
provincial Eng. dag, dew. Skeat. — 266. rheumy = causing rheumatic 
diseases. Sansc. sru, to flow ; Gr. peeif , rheein (future peuVo^cu, rheusomai) , 
to flow; Gr. peO^a; stem pevM<"--, rheumat-, Lat. rheuma, a flow; Fr. 
rheume, a rheum, catarrh. Skeat. — Akin to stream ? — All disorders of 
the mucous membrane were called rheumatic. Discharge from eyes, nose, 
or lungs was called rheum. — Unpurged. "Metkought she purged the 
air of pestilence." Twelfth N., I, i, 20. —268. sick of fense = cause of 
harmful malady [Wright]? pain or grief that makes you sick [Craikl? 
cause harm [Meiklejokn] ? — 271. charm = adjure or conjure [Craik]? 



94 JULIUS CAESAR. [ACT II. 

By all your vows of love and that great vow 

Which did incorporate and make us one, 

That you unfold to me, yourself, your half, 

Why you are heavy, and what men to-night 275 

Have had resort to you ; for here have been 

Some six or seven, who did hide their faces 

Even from darkness. 

Brutus. Kneel not, gentle Portia. 

Portia. I should not need, if you were gentle Brutus. 
Within the bond of marriage, tell me, Brutus, 280 

Is it excepted I should know no secrets 
That appertain to you ? Am I yourself 
But, as it were, in sort or limitation, 
To keep with you at meals, comfort your bed, 
And talk to you sometimes ? (Dwell I but in the suburbs 
Of your good pleasure T\ If it be no more 286 

Portia is Brutus' harlotf not his wife. 

Brutus. You are my true and honorable wife, 
As dear to me as are the ruddy drops 
That visit my sad heart. 290 

Portia. If this were true, then should I know this secret. 
I grant I am a woman ; but, withal, 
A woman that Lord Brutus took to wife : 
I grant I am a woman ; but withal 

A woman well-reputed, Cato's daughter. 295 

Think you I am no stronger than my sex, 
Being so father'd and so husbanded ? 

appeal to by charms, as enchanters call upon spirits to answer them 
[Wright]? 'Conjure' is more frequent; as in Macbeth, IV, i, 50. — Dif- 
ference between conjure and conjure? — Root kas, praise; Lat. carmen 
for cas?nen, a song. — 274. half. So the other Porfia says, " With leave, 
Bassanio, I am half yourself." Mer. of Ven., Ill, ii, 243. — 275. heavy. 
" A light mf e cloth make a heavy husband." Mer. of Ven., V, i, 130. — 
281. excepted = named as an exception ? Exception to what ? — 283. in 
sort=in a certain manner; in some degree, not fully? — "We still say 
' in a sort.' " Craik. — 280. suburbs = borders ? — Loose women lived in 
the suburbs of London! Is Shakes, thinking of that? — See Mens, for 
Meas., I, ii, 88, 89. — 289. Gray has, 'Dear as the ruddy drops that warm 
my heart.' — Twelve years after Shakespeare's death, Harvey (in 1028) 
published his discovery of the circulation of the blood ; but the fact was 
believed long before. See Hamlet, I, v, 65-68. — 291. should I know = 
I ought to know? the information would be in my possession (of)? — 
2'.>">. well reputed. Warton and Steevens make this adjective describe 
Cato ! Well? — Cato, great-grandson of Cato the Censor, was born 95 b.c. 
— Mer. of Ven., I, i, 166. — 297. fathered. How easily Shakes, turns any 
word into a verb! Abbott, 290. — How delicate, yet noble, the implied 



SCENE I.] JULIUS CAESAR. 95 

Tell me your counsels, I will not disclose 'em : 

I have made strong proof of my constancy, 

Giving myself a voluntary wound 300 

Here, in the thigh: can I bear that with patience, 

And not my husband's secrets ? 

Brutus. ye gods, 

Render me worthy of this noble wife ! [Knocking within. 
Hark, hark ! one knocks : Portia, go in a while ; 
And by and by thy bosom shall partake 305 

The secrets of my heart. 
All my engagements I will construe to thee, 
All the charactery of my sad brows. 
Leave me with haste. [Exit Portia. 

Reenter Lucius with Ligarius. 

Lucius, who's that knocks ? 

Lucius. Here is a sick man that would speak with you. 

Brutus. Cains Ligarius, that Metellus spake of. 311 

Boy, stand aside. — Caius Ligarius! how? 

Ligarius. Vouchsafe good morrow from a feeble tongue. 

Brutus. 0, what a time have you chose out, brave Caius, 
To wear a kerchief ! Would you were not sick ! 315 

Ligarius. I am not sick, if Brutus have in hand 
Any exploit worthy the name of honor. 

Brutus. Such an exploit have I in hand, Ligarius, 
Had you a healthful ear to hear of it. 

compliments in this line ! — 299. proof = test [Wright] ? confirmatory evi- 
dence? — See Plutarch (Marcus Brutus) on this subject. — W5. thy. 
Thou and thy and thee indicate on the part of the speaker, (1) affection, 
(2) superiority, (3) contempt. Also they are used in heightened passages, 
as here. — 308. charactery = writing? written characters? — See our 
Hamlet, I, iii, 59 ; Merry Wives, V, v, 77. — Accent? — 309. that. Ellip- 
sis? Abbott, 244. — 312. Boy. Rough address? if so, why? — how. 
Surprise? if so, at what? — 313. vouchsafe. Lat. vocare, to call, sum- 
mon; O. Fr. voucher, to pray in aid, or call unto aid, in a suit; Eng. 
vouch, to warrant, attest ; vouchsafe, to warrant safe ; condescend to grant. 
Here vouchsafe = deign to receive? deign to grant me permission to say? 
— So deign in Tivo Gent, of Ver., I, i, 144. — 315. kerchief. Lat. co-, 
con, together, completely; operire, to shut, hide; cooperire, to cover; Fr. 
couvrir, to cover ; Lat. caput, head ; O. Fr. chef, chief, head; couvrechef, 
a head-covering. — Shakes, assigns to Rome the English customs. " If any 
there be sick, they make him a posset, and tie a kerchief on his head, and 
if that will not mend him, then God be merciful to him ! " Fuller's 
Worthies (1K62). — 317. honor again! See I, ii, 82, 85, 88, etc. — 
319. healthful = full of health ? health-giving ? — Present usage of health- 
ful and healthy f 



96 JULIUS CAESAR. [ACT II. 

Ligarius. By all the gods that Romans bow before, 320 
I here discard my sickness ! Soul of Rome ! 
Brave son, deriv'd from honorable loins ! 
Thou, like an exorcist, hast conjur'd up 
My mortified spirit. Now bid me run, 
And I will strive with things impossible ; 325 

Yea, get the better of them. What's to do ? 

Brutus. A piece of work that will make sick men whole. 

Ligarius. But are not some whole that we must make 
sick? 

Brutus. That must we also. What it is, my Caius, 
I shall unfold to thee, as we are going 330 

To whom it must be done. / 

Ligarius. / Set on your foot, 

And with a heart new-fir'd I follow you, 
To do I know not what ; Jout it sufhceth 
That Brutus leads me on. ] 

Brutus. J Follow me, then. [Exeunt. 

321. discard. Does he here throw off his kerchief ? So Collier. — Lat. 
dis-, apart, away ; Gr. xapTrj, charte, a leaf of paper ; Lat. charta, Late 
Lat. carta, paper; Fr. carte, a paper, a card. Discard = throw away use- 
less cards; reject. Skeat, — 323. exorcist. In Shakes, this word always 
means one who raises spirits. How in other authors? — Gr. e£, ex, away; 
opKos, horkos, oath ; ophidic, horkizein, to drive away hy .adjuration. 
Skeat. — Cymbel., IV,ii,277; All's Wcll,\, iii, 299 ; 2 Henry VI, I, iv, 4.— 
conjur'd. Pronunciation ? — 324. mortified = dead in me [Wright, Hud- 
son, etc.] ? deadened [Rolfe] ? — Syllables? — Lat. mors, mortis, death; 
facere (whence Jic- in composition), to make. See our ed. of Macbeth, V, 
ii, 5; Henry V, I, i, 26. — Scan. Most commentators make spirit a mono- 
syllable. Abbott, 463. — 325. impossible, etc. "If it is difficult, it is 
done; if impossible, it shall be done!" — 327. sick . . . whole. Old 
meanings? — 329. Had Metellus hinted at it? — 331. to whom. Syntax 
of to? Abbott, 208, 394. — Should a comma be placed after going f — 
330. Set on. I, ii, 11; V, ii, 3; set . . . foot. I, iii, 118.— 332. suf- 
ficeth. Sound of c? — 333. The folio has here the stage direction, 
Thunder. — Significance and value of this scene? Progress in the play? 
— How does Shakes, deviate from Plutarch? — Is the boy Lucius of any 
use? 



SCENE II.] JULIUS CAESAR. 97 

Scene II. Coesar^s House. 

Thunder and lightning. Enter Cesar, in his night-gown. 

Ccesar. Nor heaven nor earth have been at peace to-night : 
Thrice hath Calpurnia in her sleep cried out, 
" Help, ho ! they murder Caesar ! " — Who's within ? 

Enter a Servant. 

Servant. My lord ? 

Caesar. Go bid the priests do present sacrifice, 5 

And bring me their opinions of success. 

Servant. T will, my lord. [Exit. 

Enter Calpurnia. 

Calpurnia. What mean you, Caesar ? Think you to walk 
forth ? 
You shall not stir out of your house to-day. 

Caisar. Caesar shall forth : the things that threat'n'd me 10 
Ne'er look'd but on my back ; when they shall see 
The face of Caesar, they are vanished. 

Calpurnia. Caesar, I never stood on ceremonies, 
Yet now they fright me. There is one within, 
Besides the things that we have heard and seen, 15 

Recounts most horrid sights seen by the watch. 
A lioness hath whelped in the streets ; 

Scene II. — The stage direction, A Room in C'sesar's Palace, is not in 
the folio. — Cfesar's Palace was on the Palatine? The pontifical mansion 
was on the east side of the Forum and faced west. — night-gown is dress- 
ing-gown. See our ed. of Macbeth, II, ii, 70; V, i, 5. — 1. have. Usually 
the singular is used in Shakes, in cases like this, as if the two substantives 
were looked at together. — Abbott, 408. — to-night. Often in Shakes, for 
lastnight. See line 76. — 2. Calpurnia, etc. See extract from Plutarch. 

— 5. present = immediate? So, usually, in Shakes, and the Bible. — 
G. success = good fortune [Wright, Rolf e, etc.] ? what is to follow [Hud- 
son] ? the issue [Craik] ? — Shakes, uses 'bad success,' 'vile success,' etc. 

— See V, iii, 05. — Ascham's Schoolmaster has ' good or ill success.' — Lat. 
sub, under; cedere, to go; succedere, to go beneath; follow after. — 
10. Caesar. With him his name represents much! See on I, ii, 195, 208. 
See in this scene, 13, 29, 42, 44, 45,. etc. — 12. vanished. Scan! — 13. stood 
on = regarded [Rolfe]? attached importance to [Wright]? Ill, i, 101. — 
ceremonies = ceremonial or sacerdotal interpretation of signs and omens 
[Hudson] ? auguries [Rolfe]? outward religious signs or omens [Wright] ? 

— See I, i, 65; II, i, 197. — 16. watch. " Shakes, was thinking of his own 
London ; not of ancient Rome, where the night watchmen were not estab- 
lished before the time of Augustus." Wright. — 17-24. With these lines 






98 JULIUS CESAR. [ACT II. 

And graves have yawn'd, and yielded up their dead ; 

Fierce fiery warriors fight upon the clouds, 

In ranks and squadrons and right form of war, 20 

Which drizzled blood upon the Capitol ; 

The noise of battle hurtled in the air, 

Horses do neigh, and dying men did groan, 

And ghosts did shriek and squeal about the streets. 

Caesar ! these things are beyond all use, 25 

And I do fear them. 

compare Hamlet, I, i, 113-120. — 10. fight. So the folios. Most editors 
change to fought. Which is more vivid ? Which agrees better with have 
yawned? What is 'vision' in rhetoric? Does 'right' in the next line 
render 'fight' objectionable? — For Shakespeare's mixture of past and 
present in narration, see another instance in Hamlet, I, ii, 201-211. In 
Milton's Hymnon the Nativity, first six lines, we have three tenses thus: 
"It was the winter wild, While the heaven-born child, All meanly wrapt 
in the rude manger lies; Nature in awe to him Had doffed her gaudy- 
trim.' ' — 20. right = regular ? correct? — The reader will recall the splendid 
passage in Par. Lost (II, 533-538) beginning, ' As when, to warn proud 
cities, war appears, Waged in the troubled sky.' In the auroral display 
of April 16, 1882, in New England, the moving columns and streamers of 
light strikingly resembled immense masses of troops armed with spears! 
— 21. drizzled. 'Dews of blood,' according to Horatio in Hamlet (I, i, 
117) foreboded Cresar's death. — 22. hurtled = rattled, clashed ? — Hurtle 
is merely the frequeutative of hurt in the sense ' to dash.' From Welsh 
hyrddu, to ram, butt. The orig. sense was 'to butt as a ram'! Skeat. 
The word is usually set down as of imitative origin. See Gray's elegant 
echo of this line in'his Fatal Sisters, " Iron sleet of arrowy shower Hurtles 
in the darkened air." — 23. do neigh. Dumb animals were supposed to 
be conscious of the presence of supernatural beings? See Coleridge's 
Christabel. — Knight thinks the tenses are purposely confounded in this 
line 'in the vague terror of the speaker.' The other editors change do 
to did; because, as Craik puts it, "no degree of mental agitation ever 
expressed itself in such a jumble and confusion of tenses as this — not 
even insanity or drunkenness." But suppose she seems to hear them 
neigh while she is speaking! Craik retains a similar confusion of tenses 
in III, i, 284t-286. The editors do not hesitate to print, "I often came 
where I did hear of her, but cannot find her," Mer. of Ven., Ill, i, 66. See 
on line 19. — 24. squeal. In Hamlet (see our edition, I, i, 116) the 
' sheeted dead ' squeak ! Shakes, may have got the idea of thin and 
squeaking voices from what Homer says of the souls of the wooers, 
Odyssey, xxiv, 5, rpi^ovo-ai eVovTo, trizousai heponto, they followed gibber- 
ing (literally crying sharply or shrilly) ; xxiv, 9, Terpeyinai, tetriguiai, 
squeaking; in Iliad, xxiii, 101, the ghost of Achilles went rerpiyvla, gibber- 
ing (literally squeaking, twittering, or chirping) beneath the earth. Chap- 
man's translation of Homer's Iliad, the only English one in print iu 
Shakespeare's time, renders the word, murmured. In Horace's 8th Satire, 
1st Book, the ghosts uttered sad and shrill tones, resonarint triste et acu- 
tum. In Virgil's ^Eneid, vi, 491, the ghosts raised a feeble cry, vocem 
exiguam. — Shakes., then, is decidedly classical in using squeak, squeal, 
and gibber, to describe the voice of ghosts? Sound like the thin voice 
through a poor telephone ? — 25. use = that we are used to? custom? 
usage? ordinary occurrence? See our Macbeth, I, iii, 137: our Mer. of 



SCENE II.] JULIUS CAESAR. 99 

Ccesar. What can be avoided 

Whose end is purposed by the mighty gods ? 
Yet Caesar shall go forth ; for these predictions 
Are to the world in general as to Caesar. 

Calpurnia. When beggars die, there are no comets seen ; 
The heavens themselves blaze forth the death of princes. 31 

Ccesarl Cowards die many times before their deaths ; 
The valiant never taste of death but once J 
£ Of all the wonders that I yet have heard, 
It seems to me most strange that men should fear ; 35 

Seeing that death, a necessary end, 
Will come when it will come.') 

Reenter Servant. 

What say the augurers ? 

Servant. They would not have you to stir forth to-day. 
Plucking the entrails of an offering forth, 
They could not find a heart within the beast. 40 

Ccesar. The gods do this in shame of cowardice : 
Csesar should be a beast without a heart, 
If he should stay at home to-day for fear. 
No, Caesar shall not. Danger knows full well 
That Caesar is more dangerous than he : 45 

We hear two lions litter'd in one day, 
And I the elder and more terrible ; 
And Caesar shall go forth. 

Veil., IV, i, 259. — 27. end = completion ? termination? accomplishment? 
object in view? — With Hamlet he would 'defy [i.e., renounce?] augury'? 
Hamlet, V, ii, 208. — 31. blaze = publish in flaming letters ? — Blare, blow, 
blazon, and blast are akin. A. S. Masse, a flame; Icel. blys, a torch; 
bldsa, to blow, sound an alarm. Skeat. The two meanings mixed? — 
Rom. and Jul., Ill, iii, 161. See especially 1 Henry VI, I, i, 1-5. "The 
most signal phenomenon in the heavens was that of a great comet, which 
shone very bright for seven nights after Caesar's death, and then disap- 
peared." Plutarch. 

32. Cowards die, etc. Handsomely said? — Plutarch [North's, p. 737] 
tells us that when his friends suggested a body-guard, he replied, "It is 
better to die once than always to be afraid of death." The evening before 
his death, being asked at Lepidus' house, " What kind of death is best? " 
he answered, " That which is least expected." — deaths. See ' behaviors,' 
I, ii, 39.-33. taste of death. Trace of Bible readings? Matt., xvi, 28. 
— 37. augurers. II, i, 200. — 38. to. The to took the place of the dis- 
carded infinitive ending -en. Abbott, 349. — 41. cowardice. Whose? 
See lines 5, 6, 39, 40. — 42. should = would? These words not differenti- 
ated? Abbott, 322.-46. We hear. The folios read heare or hear. 
Wisely changed by nearly all the editors to are ? — " Are, pronounced air, 



100 JULIUS CAESAR. [ACT II. 

Calpurnia. Alas, my lord, 

Your wisdom is consum'd in confidence. 
Do not go forth to-day : call it my fear 50 

That keeps you in the house, and not your own. 
We'll send Mark Antony to the senate-house ; 
And he shall say you are not well to-day : 
Let me, upon my knee, prevail in this. 

Ccesar. Mark Antony shall say I am not well ; 55 

And, for thy humor, I will stay at home. 

Enter Decius. 

Here's Decius Brutus, he shall tell them so. 

Decius. Caesar, all hail ! good morrow, worthy Caesar : 
I come to fetch you to the senate-house. 

Ccesar. And you are come in very happy time, 60 

To bear my greeting to the senators 
And tell them that I will not come to-day : 
Cannot is false, and that I dare not, falser : 
I will not come to-day : tell them so, Decius. 

Calpurnia. Say he is sick. 

Ccesar. Shall Caesar send a lie ? 65 

Have I in conquest stretch' d mine arm so far, 
To be afeard to tell graybeards the truth ? 
Decius, go tell them Caesar will not come. 

Decius. Most mighty Caesar, let me know some cause, 
Lest I be laugh'd at when I tell them so. 70 

Caisar. The cause is in my will : I will not come ; 
That is enough to satisfy the senate. 

and heare, pronounced hair, might easily have been confounded in Shake- 
speare's time, especially by a compositor or transcriber who ' exhaspirated 
his haitches'I" White. — 49. consumed. Mental picture here? — 
52. We'll. Who will?— 56. humor. Still used in this sense? See I, ii, 
;^05. — Is Caesar glad to acquiesce thus? — 57. Decius should be Decimus. 
Caesar had selected him as guardian to Octavius. Decimus was worth in 
present value from half a million to a million dollars, acquired in Caesar's 
campaigns. — 58. morrow. Morn and morrow are merely doublets. A. S. 
morgen, morn, morrow. Perhaps from v/mar, to glimmer, shine; whence 
/j.apixaCpei.y, marmairein, to glitter; also Lat. marmor, and Eng. marble. 
Skeat.—GO. happy = lucky. From hap = luck. — 65. send a lie, etc. 
But see line 55. Does he feel ashamed of the excuse Calpurnia had ar- 
ranged ? Plutarch tells us he came in a litter. — 67. afeard. Interchange- 
able with afraid in Shakes. — graybeards. The Lat. senatus, senate, 
is fr. senex, old. The Spartan senate (called yepovcrU, gerousia, body of 
old men, from yepov, gerou, old man) was composed of men at least sixty 
years old ; the Roman, thirty-two years, till Augustus reduced the limit to 



SCENE II.] JULIUS CMSAR. 101 

But for your private satisfaction, 

Because I love you, I will let you know : 

Calpurnia here, my wife, stays me at home : 75 

She dreamt to-night she saw my statue, 

Which, like a fountain with an hundred spouts, 

Did run pure blood ; and many lusty Romans 

Came smiling, and did bathe their hands in it : 

And these does she apply for warnings and portents, 80 

And evils imminent ; and on her knee 

Hath begg'd that I will stay at home to-day. 

Decius. This dream is all amiss interpreted. 
It was a vision fair and fortunate : 

Your statue spouting blood in many pipes, 85 

In which so many smiling Bomans bath'd, 
Signifies that from you great Borne shall suck 
Beviving blood, and that great men shall press 
For tinctures, stains, relics and cognizance. 
This by Calpurnia's dream is signified. 

Ccesar. And this way have you well expounded it. 

Decius. I have, when you have heard what I can say ; 
And know it now. The senate have concluded 

twenty-five. —73. satisfaction. Syllabif y ! — 75. my -wife. Why are 
these words put iu? Evidence that Caesar respected his wives? — 76. Here 
Shakes, deviates from Plutarch, who gives two dreams: one of Cresar's 
being murdered ; the other of a pinnacle falling from the top of Caesar's 
house. See line 2. — statue. Trisyl. here; but see line 85. The folio 
has statue [and so it is in Richard III, III, vii, 25], which most editors 
changed to statua here, and in III, ii, 186. Abbott, 487. " The word came 
into English through the O. Fr. statue, pronounced as a trisyl." Beech- 
ing. As Caesar crossed the threshold this morning, it is said the statue 
feil and was shivered to pieces! — 78. lusty. I, ii, 104. — 80. Scan! The 
line certainly appears to he an Alexandrine. — 81. and evils = and of 
evils? — 89. tinctures, stains, etc. See III, ii, 131,132. "Tincture in 
heraldry meant metals, colors, or furs." Wright. — Strictly tincture is a 
dye; stain, that which takes the color out. Beeching. — Was Decius' 
interpretation likely to reassure Cassar or Calpurnia? Is Caesar's reply 
(line 91) ironical? Or are we to infer with Craik that Shakes, would con- 
vey the notion of " ths presence of an unseen power driving on both the 
unconscious prophet and the blinded victim," so that Caesar is " persuaded 
and relieved by the very words that ought naturally to have confirmed 
his fears " ? — cognizance : = a distinguishing badge, device ; a means of 
knowledge. Sing, for plur.? Abbott, 471. A term in heraldry. 1 Henry 
VI, II, iv, 108-liO. Lat. co, con, completely; gnoscere, to know; Fr. 
connaissance, knowledge. — 91. expounded. Lat. ex, forth; ponere, to 
put. The d is excrescent, like the d in sound, from Lat. son-us. — 93. and 

1 This pale and angry rose, 
As cognizance of my blood-drinking hate, 
Will I forever and my faction wear. 

— 1 Henry VI, II, iv, 107-109. 



102 JULIUS CMSAR. [ACT II. 

To give this day a crown to mighty Caesar. 

If you shall send them word you will not come, 95 

Their minds may change. Besides, it were a mock 

Apt to be render'd, for some one to say 

" Break up the senate till another time, 

When Caesar's wife shall meet with better dreams." 

If Caesar hide himself, shall they not whisper 100 

" Lo, Caesar is afraid " ? 

Pardon me, Caesar ; for my dear dear love 

To your proceeding bids me tell you this ; 

And reason to my love is liable. 

Ccesar. How foolish do your fears seem now, Calpurnia! 
I am ashamed I did yield to them. 106 

Give me my robe, for I will go. 

Enter Publius, Brutus, Ligarius, Metellus, Casca, 
Trebontus and Cinna. 

And look where Publius is come to fetch me. 

Publius. Good morrow, Caesar. 

Ccesar. Welcome, Publius. 

What, Brutus, are you stirr'd so early too ? 110 

Good morrow, Casca. Caius Ligarius, 
Caesar was ne'er so much your enemy 
As that same ague which hath made you lean. 
What is't o'clock ? 

Brutus. Caesar, 'tis strucken eight. 

Ccesar. I thank you for your pains and courtesy. 115 

= and therefore [Wright] . — know. Imperative ? or indicative ? — con- 
cluded. Is this word now used in the sense of determined? — 94. to 
give, etc. The alleged reason was a supposed declaration of an old oracle 
to the effect that the Parthians, who had so terribly defeated Crassus 
a few years before, could not be conquered but by a king. See on I, iii, 
85. — 97. apt = suitable ? likely ? —rendered = made in reply [Rolfe]? 
given as a retort [Wright]? (it were apt, or likely, to be) construed or 
represented (as a piece of mockery) [Hudson] ? — 102, 103. love to = 
loving interest in? regard for? — proceeding = course of conduct or 
career [Wright, Rolfe, etc.] ? advantage [Delius] ? advancement [War- 
burton, Craik]? — For what does he ask pardon? — 101. liable = subor- 
dinate [Johnson]? amenable [Hudson]? subject to and overborne by 
[Craik]? subject (and under the control of) [Wright] ? "My love leads 
me to indulge in a freedom of speech that my reason would restrain.'" 
Rolfe. — With this compare I, ii, 194; King John, II, i, 490. — Lat. ligare 
Fr.'lier, to tie, bind, make beholden. — 108. Publius. See III, i, 85-94 
— Same as in IV, i, 5 ? Hudson says it was Publius Silicius, not a conspir 
ator. — 110. stirr'd = astir ? stirring? up? Rom. and Juliet, IV, iv, 3 
Pericles, III, ii, 12. — 114. strucken: See on II, i, 192; III, i, 210. Were 



SCENE ill.] JULIUS CAESAR. 103 

Enter Antony. 

See ! Antony, that revels long o' nights, 

Is notwithstanding np. Good morrow, Antony. 

Antony. So to most noble Caesar. 

Ccesar. Bid them prepare within : 

I am to blame to be thus waited for. 

Now, Cinna ! now, Metellus ! What, Trebonius ! 120 

I have an hour's talk in store for you ; 
Remember that you call on me to-day : 
Be near me, that I may remember you. 

Trebonius. Csesar, I will : [Aside'] and so near will I be, 
That your best friends shall wish I had been further. 125 

Ccesar. Good friends, go in, and taste some wine with me ; 
And we, like friends, will straightway go together. 

Brutus. [Aside] That every like is not the same, Csesar, 
The heart of Brutus yearns to think upon ! [Exeunt. 

Scene III. A Street near the Capitol. 
Enter Artemidorus, reading a paper. 

Artemidorus. "Ccesar, beicare of Brutus; take heed of 
Cassius; come not near Casca; have an eye to Cinna; trust 

striking clocks in use ? Would Lord Bacon have introduced such an idea ? 
118. So = also ? so be it ? — On Antony see II, i, 189. — 119. to be. Gerundive 
use? Abbott, 356. — 121. hours. Dissyl.? So in Lore's L. L., II, i, 68; 
Tempest, V, i, 4, etc. Abbott, 480, regards fear, dear, fire, hour, your, 
four, and other monosyllables in r or re, as being often dissyl. when the 
vowel is long. — Why did they not kill Csesar at once ? — Where is Cassius ? 
— 128. like = likeness? seeming? — same = identity ? reality? — Brutus 
is conscience-smitten, when he hears Caesar say " like friends " ? He grieves 
that "things are not what they seem "? — Was drinking wine together 
regarded as a pledge of faithful friendship ? — 129. yearns = grieves ? The 
first folio has earnes ; elsewhere we read erne, ernd, yernes, Henry V, 
II, iii, 3, 6, etc. — A. S. yrman, to grieve. The y in yearn is due to the 
A. S. prefix ye. Skeat. Fr. Indo-Germanie root gheryo, I desire. Intent. 
Diet. — "Three words are included in the form yearn; to desire, to shiver 
or shudder with emotion, and to curdle." Writ/lit (abridged). — Note, in 
the last part of this scene, how the gentlemanly and kindly nature of 
Csesar shines forth ! — Lessons of this scene ? Its value ? How closely has 
Shakes, adhered to Plutarch's account? Was Caesar ' superstitious grown 
of late '? Is he nervous? 
Scene III. 1. Artemidorus. 1 Here again Shakes, closely follows 

1 And one Artemidorus also, born in the Isle of Gnidos, a doctor of Rhetoric in 
the Greek tongue, who by means of his profession was very familiar with certaine of 
Brutus' confederates, and therefore knew the most part of all their practices against 
Ca?sar, came and brought him a little bill, written with his own hand, of all that he 
meant to tell him. — North's Plutarch, p. 740. 



104 JULIUS CAESAR. [ACT ir. 

not Trebonius ; mark icell Metellus Cimber : Decins Brutus 
loves thee not : thou hast ivronged Caius Ligarius. There is 
but one mind in all these men, and it is bent against Cozsar. 
If thou beest not immortal, look about yon : security gives way 
to conspiracy. The mighty gods defend thee! Thy lover, 

ArtemidorusP 
Here will I stand till Caesar pass along, 
And as a suitor will I give him this. 10 

My heart laments that virtue cannot live 
Out of the teeth of emulation. 
If thou read this, Caesar, thou mayst live ; 
If not, the Fates with traitors do contrive. [Exit. 

Scene IV. Another Part of the Same Street, before 
the House of Brutus. 

Enter Portia and Lucius. 

Portia. I prythee, boy, run to the senate-house ; 
Stay not to answer me, but get thee gone : 
Why dost thou stay ? 

Plutarch, beware . . . take heed, etc. Note the equivalent expressions, 
all intensifying the caution! — (!. beest. IV, iii, 102; Par. Lost, i, 84. — 
A. S. bist, art, or shalt be. Msetz., I, p. 367. — you. " In this short scene 
Caesar is six times addressed in the solemn and prophetic thou and thee. 
. . . 'Look about you' may mean look about you and your friends." 
Abbott, 235. See note on II, i, 305. — security = false confidence? care- 
lessness? — Says Ben Jonson, "Men may securely sin but safely never." 
So "Security is mortal's chiefest enemy." Macbeth, III, v, 32. See our 
edition. — gives way to = leaves the way open for? makes room for? 
yields to the power of ? See IV, iii, 39. — 7. lover = warm friend ? Ill, ii, 
13, 42; Mer. of Veil., Ill, iv, 7; Coriol., V, ii, 14; Psalms, xxxviii, 11.— 
12. emulation = jealous rivalry? envy? — "The patriarchs, through 
emulation, sold Joseph." Bible, Rheims (1582) version, Acts, vii, 9. — 
"Bacon, like Shakes., uses the word in both a good and a bad sense." 
Rolfe. Present usage? — Lat. semulus, striving to equal; fr. same root as 
imitate. Skeat. — Fates. Clotho, the spinner of the thread of life; 
Lachesis, the allotter, who determines ils length; and Atropos, the inevit- 
able one, who, with shears, cuts it off at last! — 14. contrive = plot? con- 
spire ? Often so in Shakes. ; as II, i, 158 ; Mer. of Ven., IV, i, 351 ; Hamlet, 
IV, vii, 135. — Rhyme here? for the eye only? For the sound of i in 
Shakes., see White's shakes., vol. xii, p. 423, ed. of 1861. — Could this scene 
have been omitted without loss? Historical basis? Whence the knowl- 
edge which Artemidorus possessed of the plot? 

Scene IV. 1. prythee. So the folio. — senate-house. The Capitol 
was on the southern summit of the Mons Capitolinus (Capitoline Hill). 
One hundred steps led up to it from the Forum. It was of astonishing 
richness and magnificence. Plutarch tells us that the gilding of the arch 
of the nave of Jupiter cost 21,000 talents. Augustus lavished upon the 



SCENE IV.] JULIUS CAESAR. 105 

Lucius. To know my errand, madam. 

Portia. I -would have had thee there, and here again, 
Ere I can tell thee what thou shouldst do there. 5 

constancy, be strong upon my side ! 

Set a huge mountain 'tween my heart and tongue ! 

1 have a man's mind, but a woman's might. 
How hard it is for women to keep counsel ! — 
Art thou here yet ? 

Lucius. Madam, what should I do ? 10 

Run to the Capitol, and nothing else ? 
And so return to you, and nothing else ? 

Portia. Yes, bring me word, boy, if thy lord look well, 
For he went sickly forth : and take good note 
What Caesar doth, what suitors press to him. 15 

Hark, boy ! what noise is that ? 

Jjiicius. I hear none, madam. 

Portia. Prithee, listen well ; 

I heard a bustling rumor, like a fray, 
And the wind brings it from the Capitol. 

Lucius. Sooth, madam, I hear nothing. 20 

Enter the Soothsayer. 

Portia. Come hither, fellow : which way hast thou been ? 
Soothsayer. At mine own house, good lady. 
Portia. What is't o'clock ? 

building at one time 2000 pounds' weight of gold. It must be borne in 
mind that Cresar was not killed here, but in Pompey's Curia. — Has Brutus 
kept the promise in II, i, 305, 306? — 3. To know, etc. — Similar to Rich- 
ard III, IV, iv, 443-44(i. — 6. constancy = fidelity? firmness? See II, i, 
227,299; III, i, 23, 60, 72, 73; Macbeth, II, ii, 68. — Present meaning.— 
side. See on sides, Macbeth, II, i, 55, our edition. — 9. counsel = what 
has been imparted in consultation? a secret? — Frequent in Shakes., as in 
II, i, 298. — 18. fray. Short for 'affray,' of which our older sense was 
terror. Low Lat. exfrigidare, Old Fr. affiraier, to frighten; literally, to 
freeze with terror ; fr. frigidus, cold, chilling, frigid. Afraid is from the 
same. Skedt. A ' fray ' is a tumultuous assault or brawl ; a noisy quarrel 
in a public place, to the terror of spectators. — Note how sound conveys 
sense in lines 18 and 19! Beeching suggests Virgil's JSneid, xii, 619, " Im- 
pulit aures confusse sonus urbis et illsetabile murmur," Smote his ears 
the sound of the city's turmoil and the murmuring not of joy. — rumor 
= noise? report? — From base rum, significant of a buzzing sound; vru, 
to make a humming or low noise; whence rumble. Sfceat. — 20. Sooth. 
I, ii, 18; Mer. of Ven., I, i, 1. — Soothsayer. "Tyrwhit would substi- 
tute Artemidorus ; but the change is unnecessary." Craik. "Not only 
not necessary, but quite impossible. The vague sententiousuess of line 32, 
admirably suited for the Soothsayer, would be out of place in a man who 



106 JULIUS CAESAR. [ACT II. 

Soothsayer. About the ninth hour, lady. 

Portia. Is Caesar yet gone to the Capitol ? 

Soothsayer. Madam, not yet : I go to take my stand, 25 
To see him pass on to the Capitol. 

Portia. Thou hast some suit to Caesar, hast thou not ? 

Soothsayer. That I have, lady : if it will please Caesar 
To be so good to Caesar as to hear me, 
I shall beseech him to befriend himself. 30 

Portia. Why, know'st thou any harm's intended towards 
him ? 

Soothsayer. None that I know will be, much that I fear 
may chance. 
Good morrow to you. — Here the street is narrow : 
The throng that follows Caesar at the heels, 
Of senators, of praetors, common suitors, 35 

Will crowd a feeble man almost to death : 
I'll get me to a place more void, and there 
Speak to great Caesar as he comes along. [Exit. 

Portia. I must go in. Aye me, how weak a thing 
The heart of woman is ! — Brutus, 40 

The heavens speed thee in thine enterprise ! — 
[To herself] Sure, the boy heard me: [To Litems'] Brutus 

hath a suit 
That Caesar will not grant. — 0, I grow faint ? — 
Bun, Lucius, and commend me to my lord ; 
Say I am merry : come to me again, 45 

And bring me word what he cloth say to thee. 

[Exeunt severally. 

had all the conspirators scheduled." Beeching. — 24. ninth hour. See 
on II, i, 192. — 31. harm's = harm is? harm that is? — prtetors. I, iii, 
142. — 36. feeble. He had a shrill voice! I, ii, 15. — 37. get me to = 
what? Abbott, 296, 223. — void. Lat. vid-mts, deprived, bereft; hence 
empty: Old Fr. voide; Fr. vide, empty. Akin to wid-ow (one bereft). 
Skeat. — 39. Aye me. So the folio. Most editors print Ah, which, doubt- 
less, is the equivalent in sense, though not quite in sound. — 40. Why is the 
line broken off? May a pause fill it out? So Hamlet, I, i, 129, our ed. 
— 41. speed. I, ii, !S4. — 42. Brutus hath a suit, etc. Said to the 
boy? if so, why? — 44. commend me = praise me? give my compli- 
ments? present my respects? See in our ed. Mer. of Fen., Ill, ii, 227; 
II, ix, 89. — 45. merry. Wider sense than it now has? — Value of this 
scene ? Character developed ? revealed ? Does the second Act end well 
here? Compare Portia's agitation with Lady Macbeth's self-possession. 



SCENE i.] JULIUS CAESAR. 107 



ACT III. 

Scene I. 

Flourish. Enter Cesar, Brutus, Cassius, Casca, Decius, 
Metellus, Trebonius, Cinna, Antony, Lepidus, 
Popilius, Artemidorus, Publius, and The Sooth- 
sayer. 

Caesar. The Ides of March are come. 

Soothsayer. Ay, Caesar ; but not gone. 

Artemidorus. Hail, Caesar ! Read this schedule. 

Decius. Trebonius doth desire you to o'er-read 
At your best leisure, this his humble suit. 5 

Artemidorus. Caesar! read mine first; for mine's a suit 
That touches Caesar nearer : read it, great Caesar. 

Cazsar. What touches us ourself shall be last serv'd. 

Artemidorus. Delay not, Caesar; read it instantly. 

Cvesar. What ! is the fellow mad ? 

Publius. Sirrah, give place. 10 

Cassius. What! urge you your petitions in the street? 
Come to the Capitol. 

Act III, Scene I. The murder of Ca?sar is the central event in this 
tragedy? — The Capitol. Not the Capitol! See on II, iv, 1. "It was 
one of the porches about the theatre (of Pompey in the Campus Martius), 
in the which there was a certain place full of seats for men to sit in." 
Plutarch. — Flourish. A kind of musical prelude. Johnson. It is com- 
monly, if not always, of trumpets. Craik. — 1. " Csesar, going unto the 
Senate house and speaking merrily unto the soothsayer, told him, The 
Ides of March be come. So they be, softly answered the soothsayer, but 
yet they are not past." North's Plutarch, p. 739. — The soothsayer's 
name was Spurinna. — 2. schedule = document? — Present meaning? — 
Lai*, schedulk, a small leaf of paper; dimin. of scheda, a strip of papyrus 
bark; from v^skid, to cleave. Skeat. See Mer. of Ven., II, ix, 54. — 
4. Trehonius. P. 29, II, ii, 121. — 7. great. Pope omitted this, to mend 
the metre. Wisely? — 8. ourself. The royal plu. of kings — and editors ! 
— But note the polite self-sacrifice! — serv'd = presented [Wright]? at- 
tended to? — As You Like It, II, vii, 89. — 10. Publius. Lines'87, 90.— 



108 JULIUS CAESAR. [ACT III. 



Cesar enters the place of assembly, the rest following. 

Popilius. I wish your enterprise to-day may thrive. 

Cassius. What enterprise, Popilius ? 

Popilius. Fare you well. 15 

[Advances to Caesar. 

Brutus. What said Popilius Lena ? 

Cassius. He wish'd to-day our enterprise might thrive. 
I fear our purpose is discovered. 

Brutus. Look, how he makes to Csesar : mark him. 

Cassius. Casca, be sudden, for we fear prevention. 20 

Brutus, what shall be done ? If this be known, 
Cassius or Csesar never shall turn back, 
For I will slay myself. 

Brutus. Cassius, be constant : 

Popilius Lena speaks not of our purposes ; 
For, look, he smiles, and Csesar doth not change. 25 

Cassius. Trebonius knows his time; for, look you, Brutus, 
He draws Mark Antony out of the way. 

[Exeunt Antony and Trebonius. 

Decius. Where is Metellus Cimber ? Let him go, 
And presently prefer his suit to Ceesar. 

Brutus. He is acldress'd : press near and second him. 

Cinna. Casca, you are the first that rears your hand. 30 

Cazsar. Are we all ready ? — 

13. I wish, etc. In all these details Shakes, follows Plutarch closely. — 
19. makes to = advances towards ? Make for make way, at f/o, still in 
use ? — mark. Abbott and Rolfe make this a dissyl. here. See II, ii, 121. 
But is not n pause natural before mark? And may not that pause take 
the place of a syl.? II, iv, 40. See our ed. of Hamlet, I, i, 12!!, 132, 135. 

— 20. sudden. Line 30. Tempest, II, i, 301. — prevention. II, i, 85. 

— 22. Cassius or Caesar. So the folios. Craik and White adopt Malone's 
suggestion and change or to on. Well? " I will kill him or slay myself," 
seems the obvious meaning. Wright. But Cassius speaks excitedly ; 
Brutus is cooler. — 23. constant. II, iv, (i. — 28. presently. II, ii, 5. 

— prefer = choose rather? present? bring forward ? — Lat. prae, before; 
ferre, to bring. How often Shakes, uses Latin words in their strict ety- 
mological sense! Inference therefrom? — 29. address'd = ready ? pre- 
pared? spoken to? Lat. ad, to; dirig&re, to straighten, (fr. di, dis, apart; 
and revere, to rule); directus, straight; shortened to drietus: whence 
assumed Low Lat. drictiare ; whence Fr. dresser, to erect, set up, arrange. 
Bracket and skint. — 30. first. Line 20. — That rears your. Should we 
say rear or rears f your or his? Abbott, 247. More freedom was allowed 
in the Elizabethan age? — 31. Are -we all ready? The folios assign 
these words to Caesar. If they are his, note the tragic irony. Dyce, Col- 
lier, White, Craik, Hudson, and Rolfe give them to Casca; Ritson, to 
Cinna. But Casca knows very well that the conspirators are not all ready. 



SCENE I.] JULIUS CMSAR. 109 

What is now amiss 
That Csesar and his senate must redress ? 

Metellus. Most high, most mighty, and most puissant 
Csesar, 
Metellus Cimber throws before thy seat 
An humble heart — [Kneeling. 

Ccesar. I must prevent thee, Cimber. 35 

These couchings and these lowly courtesies 
Might fire the blood of ordinary men, 
And turn pre-ordinance and first decree 
Into the law of children. Be not fond 
To think that Csesar bears such rebel blood 40 

That will be thaw'd from the true quality 
With that which melteth fools ; I mean sweet words, 
Low-crooked-curt'sies and base spaniel fawning. 
Thy brother by decree is banished : 

If thou dost bend and pray and fawn for him, 45 

I spurn thee like a cur out of my way. 
Know, Caesar doth not wrong, nor without cause 
Will he be satisfied. 

— 32. Caesar and his senate. Was this pomposity characteristic of 
Csesar? — redress. I, iii, 117; II, i, 57. Not the word we should expect 
from a tyrant. Beeching. — 33. puissant. Spenser makes this sometimes 
two syllables, sometimes three; Shakes, always has it two. — Doublet of 
potent. From a barbarous participle present, possent-em, of jiosse, to be 
able or powerful. Bracket. — 34. This Cimber was L. Tillius Cimber, 
appointed by Caesar governor of Bithynia. — 34, 35. throws . . . heart. 
Is this metaphor natural under the circumstances ? — 36. couchings = 
crouchings? low bendings? See Genesis, xlix, 14. — Lat. col for con, 
together; locare, to place; collocare, to place together; Fr. coucher, act, 
to lay in bed; neuter, to lie down. Bracket. — 38. preordinance and 
first decree = what has been preordained aud decreed from the beginning 
(as by a deity) [Wright] ? the ruling or enactment of the highest authority 
in the state [Hudson]? — 39. law. The folio has lane. Johnson changed 
it to tow; Hudson, to play f Better? Which would be more likely to be 
misprinted lane? — fond = foolish. Often so in Shakes. — Swedish fane, 
a fool. Merchant of Ven., Ill, iii, 10. — Ellipsis here? Abbott, 281.— 
40, 41. such . . . that = such ... as? Abbott, 279. — I, iii, 115.— 
42. with = by? Often so in Shakes., as in III, ii, 195. — 43. low-crooked. 
Scan! — curtesies. Spelled also courtesies. See line 36. — Lat. co, to- 
gether; hortus, Gr. x°P T °?, chortos, a garden; cohors, an enclosure; en- 
closing, cattle-yard. Cokortem became cortem; cortem became curtem, 
then court, Fr. cour, by change of u into ou. — The meaning became suc- 
cessively enclosure, yard, country-house, household officers, etc. ; court of 
justice. Bracket. — 47. Caesar doth not wrong, etc. Ben Jonson in 
his Discoveries tells us of Shakes., " Many times he fell into those things 
could not escape laughter, as when he said in the person of Caesar, one 
speaking to him, ' Caesar, thou dost me wrong,' he replied, ' Csesar did 
never wrong but with just cause.'" Accordingly Hudson "restores" 



110 JULIUS CAESAR. [ACT III. 

Metellus. Is there no voice more worthy than my own, 
To sound move sweetly in great Csesar's ear 50 

For the repealing of my banish'd brother ? 

Brutus. I kiss thy hand, but not in flattery, Caesar; 
Desiring thee that Publius Cimber may 
Have an immediate freedom of repeal. 

Ccesar. What, Brutus ! 

Cassius. Pardon, Caesar; Ceesar, pardon: 

As low as to thy foot doth Cassius fall, 5t> 

To beg enfranchisement for Publius Cimber. 

Ccesar. I could be well mov'd, if I were as you ; 
If I could pray to move, prayers would move me : 
But I am constant as the northern star, 60 

Of whose true-fix'd and resting quality 
There is no fellow in the firmament. 
The skies are painted with unnumber'd sparks, 
They are all fire and every one doth shine ; 
But there's but one in all doth hold his place : 65 

So in the world; 'tis furnish'd well with men, 
And men are flesh and blood, and apprehensive ; 
Yet in the number I do know but one 



the quoted words to the text, making Metellus use the first quotation. 
Thus : 

" Metellus. Caesar, thou dost me wrong. 
Ccesar. Know, Caesar doth not wrong, but with just cause, 

Nor without cause will he be satisfied." 

Should we follow Hudson here? Is the bold charge of wrong-doing con- 
sistent with the fawning in which Metellus indulges? Was the wrong, if 
any, done to Metellus f — 51. repealing = recall by repealing the sentence 
[Hudson] ? recalling [Wright] ? Hudson says to repeal is to recall by 
repealing the sentence. — Repeal is a substitution for re-appeal, Lat. re, 
back; ad, to; pellare, to drive; appellate, to address; Fr. appeler, to call; 
rappeler, to recall. Shakes, often uses repeal for recall. Richard II, IV, 
i, 87; Coriol., V, v, 5. — 54. freedom of repeal = free, unconditional 
recall [Beeching] ? liberty to be recalled from banishment [Wright]? — 
59. pray to move = pray others to move from their purpose [Wright]? 
pray, in order to move others? Plutarch tells us of Brutus, "He was 
wont to say 'that he thought them evil brought up in their youth, that 
could deny [i.e. refuse] nothing.' " — 60. constant. II, iv, 6; I, ii, 208. — 
61. true-fix'd. So "ever-fixed pole," Othello, II, i, i5. — resting = 
undisturbed? — 62. fellow. Icel. felag, companionship, association; lit- 
erally " a laying together of property" ; fr. Icel. /<£, property in cattle; 
Eng./ee ; and Icel. lag, that which lies or is placed. Skeat. 

67. apprehensive = fearful ? imaginative? suspicious? quick to imag- 
ine [Wright]? endowed with apprehension or intelligence [Rolfe]? — 
Falstai'f, '2 Henry IV, IV, iii, 91, says that sherris-sack makes the brain 
"apprehensive, quick," etc. See Mid. JV. Dream, Y, i, 5. Lat. ad (ap), 
to; pre, before; v/hend, to get; apprehende're, to lay hold of, seize. Skeat. 



SCENE I.] JULIUS CAESAR. Ill 

That unassailable holds on his rank, 

Unshak'd of motion : and that I am he, 70 

Let me a little show it, even in this : 

That I was constant Cimber should be banish' d, 

And constant do remain to keep him so. 

China. Csesar ! — 

Ccesar. Hence ! wilt thou lift up Olympus ? 

Decius. Great Caesar — 

Ccesar. Doth not Brutus bootless kneel ? 

Casca. Speak, hands, for me ! 76 

[Jjhey stab CLesar) 

Ccesar. Et tu Brute ! Then fall, Caesar ! [Dies. 

China. Liberty ! Freedom ! Tyranny is dead ! 
Run hence, proclaim, cry it about the streets. 

Cassius. Some to the common pulpits, and cry out so 

— 69. rank = place [Wright, Rolfe, etc.]? high position? Fr. rang, row, 
rank; from O. H. Ger. hring, a ring. Brachet. — 70. unshak'd. Caesar 
compares himself to the motionless star. — Shakes, has shaked and shaken. 

— of motion = in his motion [Meiklejohn] ? by the force that moves the 
rest [Wright]? — unshak'd of motion = of no motion [Schmidt]? — 
motion = suit or solicitation [Mason]? — Sonnet, cxvi, 6. — 74. Olympus 
(now Elfimbo). A colossal mountain range in the north-east corner of 
Ancient Thessaly, which it separated from Macedonia. Its loftiest sum- 
mit is 9,754 feet high. " The snowy top of cold Olympus " was supposed by 
the early poets to be the home of Jupiter and his attendant deities. — 
75. bootless. A. S. hot, profit; from same root as bet-ter. Skeat. See 
Macbeth, IV, iii, 37; Mid. JV. Dream, II, i, 37.-77. et tu, Brute = thou 
too, Brutus ! This exclamation may have been taken from a Latin play 
acted at Oxford in 15812; or The True Tragedie of Richard, Duke of York, 
printed in 1595. Suetouius (72-140?) says Caesar fell without uttering a 
word, "although some have written that as M. Brutus came rushing upon 
him, he said «al <rii, tckvov (kai su, teknon), and thou, my son! " l — 80. pul- 

1 The Ides of March arrived ; omens of dire import had cast their shadows over 
the household ; Caesar's wife was disturbed by a ghastly dream of the previous night, 
and at her request, C;esar, who, contrary to his usual habit, had given way to depres- 
sion, decided that he would not attend the Senate that day. The house was full ; the 
conspirators in their places with their daggers ready. It was announced that Caesar 
was not coming. Delay might be fatal, and his familiar friend was employed to betray 
him. Decimus Brutus, whom he could not distrust, went to entreat his attendance. 
It was now eleven in the forenoon, and Caesar shook off his uneasiness and rose to go. 
As he crossed the hall, his statue fell, and was shivered on the stones. Some servant 
who had heard whispers wished to warn him ; but in vain. Antony, who was in at- 
tendance, was detained, as had been arranged, by Trebonius. Caesar 'entered and took 
his seat. His presence awed men in spite of themselves, and the conspirators had 
determined to act at once, lest they should lose courage to act at all. He was familiar 
and easy of access ; they gathered around him ; he knew them all. There was not one 
from whom he had not a right to expect some sort of gratitude, and the movement 
suggested no suspicion. One had a story to tell him, another some favor to ask. 
Tillius Cimber, whom he had just made Governor of Bithynia, then came close to him 
with some request which he was unwilling to grant. Cimber caught his gown, as if in 
entreaty, and dragged it from his shoulders. Casca, who was standing behind him, 
stabbed him in the throat. He started up with a cry, and caught Casca's arm ; another 
poniard entered his breast, giving him a mortal wound. He looked around, and seeing 



112 JULIUS C^SAR. [ACT III. 

" Liberty, freedom, and enfranchisement ! " 

Brutus. People and senators, be not affrighted; 
Fly not ; stand still : ambition's debt is paid. 

Casca. Go to the pulpit, Brutus. 

Decius. And Cassius too. 85 

Bnttus. Where's Publins ? 

China. Here, quite confounded with this mutiny. 

Metellus. Stand fast together, lest some friend of Caesar's 
Should chance — 

Brutus. Talk not of standing. — Publius, good cheer ; 90 
There is no harm intended to your person, 
Nor to no Roman else : so tell them, Publius. 

Cassius. And leave us, Publius ; lest that the people, 
Rushing on us, should do your age some mischief. 

Brutus. Do so : and let no man abide this deed, 95 

But we the doers. 

pits = rostra. Shakes, takes the word from North's Plutarch. These 
were platforms adorned with beaks (rostra) of captured ships. Lat. pul- 
pitum, a scaffold, platform, especially a stage for actors. Skeat. There 
were several in the Forum. "The whole structure" (of the principal 
platform for orators in the Roman Forum ) " would resemble very closely the 
. . . pulpits still to be seen in several of the earliest Christian churches at 
Rome." Rich. — 81. enf ranehisement = investiture with the privileges 
of free citizens? O. Fr. franc, free. Richard II, I, iii, DO; King John, 
IV, ii, 52; Macbeth, II, "i, 28.-83. debt. Ambition owes what? To 
whom? What is due to ambition? from whom? — 90. cheer. Gv.K6.pa, 
kara, the head; Low Lat. cara, the face; O. Fr. ehere, the face, look. 
Skeat. "Be of good cheer" means, be of a happy countenance. Beech- 
iin/. " In swoot of thi cheer shalt thou eat bread." Wiclif's Bible, Gen., iii, 
19'. — 93. lest that. Superfluous affix ? Abbott, 287. — 94. age. See IV, 
i, 4. Shakes, seems to have takeu Publius as a convenient and familiar 
name for any Roman. Wright. — 95. abide = pay for? — See III, ii, 112. 
So aby in Mid. N. Dream, III, ii, 175. Abide is a mere corruption of aby, 
to suffer for. A. S. abiegan, to pay for; Megan, to buy. Aby is frequent 
in Mid. Eng. Skeat. So dear abide, in III, ii, 112 = pay dearly for. 
Spenser's Fserie Q., II, viii, 28. — 90. but we = but we will? except us? 

not one friendly face, but only a ring of daggers pointing at him, he drew his gown 
over his head, gathered the folds about him that lie might fell decently, and sank down 
without uttering another word. Cicero was present ; the feelings with which he 
watched the scene are unrecorded, but may easily be imagined. Waving his dagger, 
dripping with Caesar's blood, Brutus shouted to Cicero by name, congratulating him 
that liberty was restored. The Senate rose with shrieks and confusion, and rushed 
into the forum. The crowd outside caught the word that Caesar was dead, and scattered 
to their homes. Antony, guessing that those who had killed Caesar would not spare 
himself, hurried on into concealment. The murderers, some of them bleeding from 
wounds which they had given one another in their eagerness, followed, crying that the 
tyrant was dead, and that Rome was free ; and the body of the great Caesar was left 
alone in the house where a few weeks before Cicero told him that he was so necessary 
to his country that every Senator would die before harm should reach him ! — Fronde. 
Caesar was tall and spare, pale in complexion, with an aquiline nose, and dark 
piercing eyes. His hair was scanty, and he had little or no beard. In his youth he 
was remarkably handsome, and delicate, almost feminine, in appearance. 



SCENE I.] JULIUS CAESAR. 113 



Reenter Trebonius. 

Cassius. Where is Antony ? 

Trebonius. Fled to his house amaz'd : 
Men, wives and children stare, cry out and run 
As it were doomsday. 

Brutus. Fates, we will know your pleasures : 

That we shall die, we know ; 'tis but the time 100 

And drawing days out, that men stand upon. 

Casca. Why, he that cuts off twenty years of life 
Cuts off so many years of fearing death. 

Brutus. Grant that, and then is death a benefit : 
So are we Caesar's friends, that have abridg'd 105 

His time of fearing death. Stoop, Romans, stoop, 
And let us bathe our hands in Caesar's blood. 
Up to the elbows, and besmear our swords : 
Then walk we forth, even to the market-place, 
And, waving our red weapons o'er our heads, 110 

Let's all cry " Peace ! Freedom ! and Liberty ! " 

Abbott, 118, 216. So Byron's 'save the waves and I.' — See III, ii, 59; V, 
v, 69.-97. Fled to his house. Antony had slipped through the crowd, 
exchanged clothes with a slave or client, and made his way unperceived 
to his (formerly Pompey's) house, which stood in the Carinse (keels), near 
the Coliseum, between the Cselian and Esquiline hills. 1 Cicero, too, is said 
to have had a house in the Carinse, — 99. as it were. 'If is implied 
in the subjunctive. Abbott, 107. — doomsday. A. S. diim, judgment; 
akin to Gr. fle^i?, themis, law. — The senators not in the conspiracy "rushed 
out, shouting, "Fly! Shut your doors! fly! " — Fates! — Why not gods? 
— Of the Three Fates (Gr. Moipai, Moirai ; Lat. Parcx), Clotho, the ' Spin- 
ner,' spun the thread of life; Lachesis, the 'Allotter,' determined its 
length; and Atropos, the ' Inevitable,' cut the thread at last. They were 
often regarded as goddesses of birth, destiny, and death. Clotho has a 
spindle or a roll (book of fate) ; Lachesis, a staff pointing to a globe; and 
Atropos, a pair of scales, a sun-dial, or a cutting instrument. The poets 
sometimes make them old and hideous women. They represented the 
central supreme Will of the Universe, a power to which even the gods 
were subject! 

101. stand upon. II, ii, 13. —102. Why, he that, etc. The folios 
assign this speech to Casca. Pope, Wright, and some others give it to 
Cassius, because the latter "was a Stoic." But see I, iii, 100; V, ii, 
75. — Beeching remarks, "It is much more in Casca's manner, being 
an unintentional burlesque of what Brutus had said." — 106. Stoop, 
Romans. Glimpse here afforded of one phase of Brutus' character? 
tact, (k waut of tact? — Pope assigns the lines 10G-111 to Casca, regarding 
them as inconsistent with the mild and philosophical character of Brutus." 
Wright. — 109. walk we forth. First person plural imperative? — 

1 At evening on the 15th Brutus urged Cicero to become the medium of communi- 
cation with Antony, but he declined. 



114 JULIUS CAESAR. [ACT III. 

Cassius. Stoop, then, and wash. How many ages hence 
Shall this our lofty scene be acted over 
In states unborn and accents yet unknown ! 

Brutus. How many times shall Caesar bleed in sport, 115 
That now on Pompey's basis lies along 
No worthier than the dust ! 

Cassius. So oft as that shall be, 

So often shall the knot of us be call'd 
The men that gave their country liberty. 

Decius. What, shall we forth ? 

Cassius. Ay, every man away : 120 

Brutus shall lead; and we will grace his heels 
With the most boldest and best hearts of Rome. 

Enter a Servant. 

Brutus. Soft ! who comes here ? A friend of Antony's. 

Servant. Thus, Brutus, did my master bid me kneel ; 
Thus did Mark Antony bid me fall down ; 125 

And, being prostrate, thus he bade me say : 
Brutus is noble, wise, valiant, and honest; 
Caesar was mighty, bold, royal, and loving : 
Say, I love Brutus, and I honor him ; 

Say, I fear'd Caesar, honor'd him and lov'd him. 130 

If Brutus will vouchsafe that Antony 
May safely come to him, and be resolv'd 
How Caesar hath deserv'd to lie in death, 
Mark Antony shall not love Caesar dead 
So well as Brutus living ; but will follow 135 

The fortunes and affairs of noble Brutus 

113. this our lofty scene. Latin idiom? Abbott, 239. See 'this our 
suffering country.' Macbeth, III, vi, 48. — 110. basis. See III, ii, 186. 
— ' The base whereupon Pompey's image stood.' Plutarch. — 120. Decius. 
Decimus, in preparation for the emergency, had stationed a body of gladia- 
^y tors in Pompey's theatre. — 122. most boldest. See III, ii, 181 ; Acts, 
. xxvi, v. Ben Jonson insisted that double comparatives and double super- 
l latives were in imitation of the Greek idiom. — In this mock heroic fashion 
they moved on to the forum (market-place), preceded by a cap of liberty 
hoisted on a spear ! — 123. friend. Plutarch says Antony sent his son 
to the Capitol, whither the conspirators soon retired. — 124-138. Note the 
elaborateness of this speech. — 127. honest = honorable ? II, i, 127; IV, 
iii, (57; Lear, II, ii, (IT. — 131. vouchsafe = warrant? guarantee? deign 
to grant. Lat. vocare, to call, summon; Nor. Fr. voucher, to call to aid 
in a suit. See on II, i, 313. — Does the word now imply condescension? 
— 132. be resolv'd = be satisfied, informed [Wright]? have his doubts 
resolved or removed [Rolfe] ? Ill, ii, 177; IV, ii, 14. See heading of 



SCENE I.] JULIUS CESAR. 115 

Thorough the hazards of this untrod state 
With all true faith. So says my master Antony. 

Brutus. Thy master is a wise and valiant Roman ; 
I never thought him worse. 140 

Tell him, so please him come unto this place, 
He shall be satisfied ; and, by my honor, 
Depart untouch' d. 

Servant. I'll fetch him presently. [Exit. 

Brutus. I know that we shall have him well to friend. 

Cassius. I wish we may : but yet have I a mind 145 

That fears him much ; and my misgiving still 
Falls shrewdly to the purpose. 

Brutus. But here comes Antony. 

Reenter Antony. 

Welcome, Mark Antony. 
Antony. mighty Caesar ! dost thou lie so low ? 
Are all thy conquests, glories, triumphs, spoils, 150 

Shrunk to this little measure ? Fare thee well ! — 
I know not, gentlemen, what you intend, 

Chaps, x and xii, St. Mark. So we say, "Solve the problem." — 137. 
Thorough. Shakes, so writes it when he wishes to make it a dissyl. 
A. S. thurh, through; thyrel, a hole. The fundamental notion is that of 
boring or piercing. Akin to Irish tar, beyond, through; Lat. tr-ans, 
across. Skeat. See Mer. of Ven., II, vii, 42. — state, of things? or State 
of Rome? — 139. Note the brevity of Brutus' reply to Antony. — wise, 
etc. Is Brutus sincere? touched by Antony's flattery? See II, i, 165, 
181-189. — 141. so. I, ii, 162. Abbott, 133,' 297, 349. —142. satisfied = 
informed? content? appeased? convinced by our reasons [Wright] ? — 
honor. Still harping on his honor? — 143. presently. II, ii, 5. — 144. 
to friend, as friend [Wright]? to befriend (us)? See, "Seven had her 
to wife," Lake, iii, 8; xx, 33. This usage is found in Macbeth, IV, iii. 
10; Cymbeline, I, iv, 90, etc. — 145. mind = inward feeling? presenti- 
ment? — 146. my misgiving, etc. = my suspicions are always shrewd 
enough to hit the mark [Rolfe] ? my presentiment of evil always turns out 
to be very much to the purpose [Wright] ? — still = up to this time ? ever, 
always? The latter is the usual sense in Shakes.; as in Mer. of Ven., 
I, i, 17; Rom. and Jul, V, iii, 106, 270; Tempest, I. ii, 229. — 147. Falls = 
happens. For shrewdly, see II, i, 158. — 148. Welcome. Why does not 
Antony respond ? — 150. conquests. It took Caesar about 10 years (58- 
48 B.C.?) to conquer Gaul? He twice (55 and 54 B.C.) invaded Britain; 
defeated Pompey at Pharsalia (Aug. 9, 48 B.C.) ; made a victorious cam- 
paign in Egypt (48 and 47 B.C.) ; crushed, near Zela, Pharnaces, king of 
Pontus (47 B.C.), announcing his victory in the famous message, Vent, 
vidi, vici ; destroyed the Pompeian forces at Thapsus in Africa (April 6, 
46 B.C.) ; and annihilated the army of the sons of Pompey at Munda in 
Spain (March 17, 45 B.C.). His chief glory was his clemency. He cele- 



116 JULIUS CjESAR. [ACT ill. 

Who else must be let blood, who else is rank : 

If I myself, there is no hour so fit 

As Caesar's death's hour, nor no instrument 155 

Of half that worth as those your swords, made rich 

With the most noble blood of all this world. 

I do beseech ye, if you bear me hard, 

Now, whilst your purpled hands do reek and smoke, 

Fulfil your pleasure. Live a thousand years, loo 

I shall not find myself so apt to die : 

No place will please me so, no mean of death, 

As here by Caesar, and by you cut off, 

The choice and master spirits of this age. 

Brutus. Antony ! beg not your death of us. 165 

Though now we must appear bloody and cruel, 
As, by our hands and this our present act, 
You see we do, yet see you but our hands 
And this the bleeding business they have done : 
Our hearts you see not ; they are pitiful ; 170 

And pity to the general wrong of Rome — 
As fire drives out fire, so pity — pity 
Hath done this deed on Caesar. For your part, 
To you our swords have leaden points, Mark Antony : 
Our arms in strength of malice, and our hearts 175 

brated his victories by five 'triumphs.' — 153. let blood = bled? So 
four times in Shakes. — A euphemism? — rank = diseased from repletion 
[Wright]? possessed of too much blood [Hudson]? grown too great? — 
156. as. I, ii, 31, 170; Abbott, 280. —158. ye, if you. Originally ye was 
nominative, and you accusative. The Elizabethans disregarded this dis- 
tinction. — bear me hard. I, ii, 303; II, i, 215. — 15'J. purpled hands. 
So in King John, II, i, 322. reek. A. S. rec, vapor, akin to Dutch rook ; 
Get ranch, smoke, fame, steam, reek. — 160. Live = shouM I live? if I 
live? Mer. of Fen., Ill, ii, 61. Abbott, 361. — 161. apt = ready or dis- 
posed [Rolfe]? fit, and hence ready, inclined [Wright]? Lat. aptus, fit; 
fr. obs. upere ; akin to Gr. iLmziv, haptein, to fasten. Skeat. — 162. mean. 
Shakes, uses indifferently mean or means. Lat. medius, medianus, 
middle ; Fr. moyen, mean, means; the intermediate thing, connecting link 
between cause and effect? — place . . . by Caesar; mean . . . by you. 
Such distribution is quite Shakespearian. See our ed. of Macbeth, I, iii, 
60, 61. — by Csesar = beside or near Caesar; by you = by the agency or 
action of you. — Is Antony sincere? or artful? both? — 172. lire, etc. 
Shakes, uses this simile four times. King John, III, i, 277 ; Rom. and Jul., 
I. ii, 45; Coriol., IV, vii, 54; Two Gent'., II, iv, 190. — Fire dissyl. here? 
How as to the second ' fire'? Scan ! Abbott, 475, 180. — Must we reduce 
the line to a regular pentameter? — How does fire drive out fire? — 175. 
in strength of = strong as if nerved by [Wright]? strong in the deed of 
[Steevens] ? even in the intensity of their (hate to Caesar's tyranny) 
[White] ? notwithstanding the strength of their ? Pope would change 
in strength of to exempt from; Capell and Dyce change in to no; Craik 



SCENE I.] JULIUS CAESAR. 117 

Of brothers' temper, do receive you in, 

With, all kind love, good thoughts, and reverence. 

Cassius. Your voice shall be as strong as any man's 
In the disposing of new dignities. 

Brutus. Only be patient till we have appeas'd 180 

The multitude, beside themselves with fear, 
And then we will deliver you the cause, 
Why I, that did love Cajsar when I struck him, 
Have thus proceeded. 

Antony. I doubt not of your wisdom. 

Let each man render me his bloody hand : 185 

First, Marcus Brutus, will I shake with you ; 
Next, Caius Cassius, do I take your hand ; 
Now, Decius Brutus, yours ; now yours, Metellus ; 
Yours, China ; and, my valiant Casca, yours ; 
Though last, not least in love, yours, good Trebonius. 190 
Gentlemen all — alas ! what shall I say ? 
My credit now stands on such slippery ground, 
That one of two bad ways you must conceit me, 
Either a coward or a flatterer. — 

That I did love thee, Caesar, oh, 'tis true ! 195 

If then thy spirit look upon us now, 
Shall it not grieve thee dearer than thy death, 
To see thy Antony making his peace, 
Shaking the bloody fingers of thy foes, 
Most noble ! in the presence of thy corse ? 200 

Had I as many eyes as thou hast wounds, 
Weeping as fast as they stream forth thy blood, 

changes malice to welcome ; Singer and Hudson change malice to amity .' 
We retain the folio reading, remembering that twice (in II, i, 175, 176; 
III, i, 168-170), hands or arms, bloody and cruel, have been contrasted 
with hearts preteudedly ' pitiful.' Closely connect the past line (177) with 
175? The converse of this preposition is seen in Ant. and Cleop., Ill, ii, 
62, "I'll wrestle with you in my strength of love," where 'wrestle' is a 
hostile act. — 178. Your voice, etc. Cassius knows his man, and that 
all this fine talk by Brutus amounts to very little with Antony ? See 211- 
218. — 182. delrver. So Hamlet, I, ii, 193 ; Coriol, IV, vi, 65. — 183. I, etc. 
Vanity? as in IV, iii, 32? or V, i, 59?— 185. render = give [Wright] ? 
give back in return for mine [Craik] ? — Low Lat. rendere, nasalised form 
of Lat. reddire, fr. re-, red-, back, and dare, to give. Skeat, Bracket. — 
189. valiant ! See V, i, 43. —190. last, not least. Almost proverbial? 
Lear, I, i, 85; Spenser, etc. — 193. conceit = conceive of? imagine? I, iii, 
161; Mer. of Ven., I, i, 92; Othello, III, iii, 149. — 197. dearer = more 
acutely? See our edition of Hamlet, I, ii, 182, note on "dearest foe." 
Whatever touched the heart keenly was called 'dear'? Hamlet, IV, iii, 
40; Othello, I, iii, 261, etc. 



118 JULIUS CMSAR. [ACT III. 

It would become me better than to close 

In terms of friendship with thine enemies. 

Pardon me, Julias ! Here wast thou bay'd, brave hart ; 205 

Here didst thou fall ; and here thy hunters stand, 

Sign'd in thy spoil, and crimson'd in thy lethe. 

world ! thou wast the forest to this hart; 

And this, indeed, world, the heart of thee ! 

How like a deer, stroken by many princes, 210 

Dost thou here lie ! 

Cassius. Mark Antony ! — 

Antony. Pardon me, Caius Cassius : 

The enemies of Caesar shall say this ; 
Then, in a friend, it is cold modesty. 

Cassius. I blame you not for praising Caesar so; 215 

But what compact mean you to have with us ? 
Will you be prick'd in number of our friends ? 
Or shall we on, and not depend on you ? 

Antony. Therefore I took your hands, but was, indeed, 
Sway'd from the point by looking down on Caesar. 220 

Friends am I with you all and love you all — 
Upon this hope, that you shall give me reasons 
Why and wherein Coesar was dangerous. 

Brutus. Or else were this a savage spectacle : 
Our reasons are so full of good regard 225 



203. close = end? come to an agreement [Wright]? — 205. bay'd = 
brought to bay, as a stag by hounds? Lat. ad, at, to; baubdre, to yelp; 
Fr. aboyer, to bark; aboi, a barking; etre aux abois= to be at bay, hard 
pressed by dogs. Bracket. — Mid. iV. Dream, IV, i, 110. — 206. Closely 
following Plutarch. — 207. Signed in thy spoil = decorated with thy 
spoils (i.e. life-blood), or dyed with blood by the act of spoiling thee 
[Beeching] ? See III, i, 10G-108; Macbeth, I, vii,75; II, iii, 83. lethe = 
stream that bears thee to oblivion [White]? river of death [Delias]? 
Pope, Craik, Hudson, and some others change lethe to death. In III, ii, 
74, 75, Antony speaks of the oblivion that overtakes praiseworthy deeds ; 
and in III, ii, 86-103, 116-118, he seems to chide his audience for allowing 
Csesar's merits to be forgotten so soon! See Twelfth N., IV, i, 62. — 208, 
209. hart . . . heart. Same pun in As You Like It, III, ii, 230, 231; 
Twelfth N„ IV, i, 59. — 210. stroken. So the folio, II, ii, 114. — 
214. modesty = moderation ? — Lat. modus, a measure; modestas, keep- 
ing within bounds or measure. Skeat. — 216. compact. Accent? Abbott, 
490. Tendency in English to throw accent hack ? or forward? — 
217. prick'd. With the sharp-pointed stylus, a puncture is made oppo- 
site the selected names in a list? The word recurs in IV, i, 1, 3, 16; 
2 Henry IV, III, ii, 162, 165, etc. The word still used in England in nomi- 
nating sheriffs. Craik. — 219. Therefore. Usual sense? — 221. Friends 
am I. Usage has made this grammatical impropriety allowable? See 
Mer. of Ven., I, iii, 128, our ed. — 225. good regard = good consideration' 



SCENE I.] JULIUS CAESAR. 119 

That were you, Antony, the son of Caesar, 
You should be satisfied. 

Antony. That's all I seek : 

And am moreover suitor that I may 
Produce his body to the market-place ; 

And in the pulpit, as becomes a friend, 230 

Speak in the order of his funeral. 

Brutus. You shall, Mark Antony. 

Cassias. Brutus, a word with you. 

[Aside to Brutus'] You know not what you do : do not 

consent 
That Antony speak in his funeral : 

Know you how much the people may be mov'd 235 

By that which he will utter ? 

Brutus. By your pardon; 

I will myself into the pulpit first, 
And show the reason of our Caesar's death : 
What Antony shall speak, I will protest 
He speaks by leave and by permission, 240 

And that we are contented Caesar shall 
Have all true rights and lawful ceremonies. 
It shall advantage more than do us wrong. 

Cassuis. I know not what may fall ; I like it not. 

Brutus. Mark Antony, here, take you Caesar's body. 245 
You shall not in your funeral speech blame us, 
But speak all good you can devise of Caesar, 
And say you do't by our permission ; 
Else shall you not have any hand at all 
About his funeral : and you shall speak 250 

In the same pulpit whereto I am going, 
After my speech is ended. 

Antony. Be it so; 

I do desire no more. 

[Wright] ? what is entitled to favorable regard [Craik] ? See IV, ii, 12. 

— 229. produce. Lat. pro, forth, forward; ducere, to lead, bring. — 
230. pulpit. Line 80. — 231. order = regular ceremony? A. funeral ora- 
tion was a customary part of the 'Order for the Burial of the Dead,' 
as the funeral service is still called in the Book of Common Prayer. 

— 236. pardon = leave ? Lat per, thoroughly; donare, to give. — 238. 
reason. As if the people, like himself, would be swayed by reason! — 
242. true = genuine? Pope changed it to due? Well? — 243. advan- 
tage. So the word is used in 1 Corinth., xv, 32. — 244. fall. Present 
usage ? befall ? fall out? — 245. Caesar's body. They had at first intended 
to drag the body to the Tiber, and throw it in as that of a traitor! — 248. per- 



120 JULIUS CAESAR. [ACT III. 

Brutus. Prepare the body then, and follow us. 

[Exeunt all but Antony. 

Antony. 0, pardon me, thou bleeding piece of earth, 255 
That I am meek and gentle with these butchers ! 
{Thou art the ruins of the noblest man 
vTJiat ever lived in the tide of times. 
Woe to the hand that shed this costly blood ! 
Over thy wounds now do I prophesy — 2(>o 

Which, like dumb mouths, do ope their ruby lips, 
To beg the voice and utterance of my tongue — 
A curse shall light upon the limbs of men ; 
Domestic fury and fierce civil strife 

Shall cumber all the parts of Italy ; 265 

Blood and destruction shall be so in use 
And dreadful objects so familiar 
That mothers shall but smile when they behold 
Their infants quarter' d with the hands of war ; 
All pity chok'd with custom of fell deeds : 270 

And Caesar's spirit, ranging for revenge, 
With Ate by his side come hot from hell, 
Shall in these confines with a monarch's voice 
Cry " Havoc ! " and let slip the dogs of war ! 

mission. Syllables! —256. butchers. Note the terrible energy of this 
word ! — French bouc, Gaelic boc, buck, he-goat ; boucher, properly one who 
kills bucks (he-goats). Bracket. — 258. tide = course [Johnson]? flow 
[Craik] ? course and current [Wright] ? tide of time = since the tide 
of time began to flow [Meiklejohn] ? Tide and time were once identi- 
cal. Root da, to divide; Sansc. da, to allot; Gr. dai-o^ai, daiomai, I allot, 
assign; A. S. tid, time, hour. Skeat. So time is a portion divided or cut 
off! — 259. hand. The folio has hand. Wisely changed?— 263. limbs. 
Hudson thinks this is synecdoche, a part for the whole. For limbs (folio 
limbes), White would substitute sons (sonnes) ; Hanmer, kind; Warbur- 
ton, line; Johnson, lives (or lymms, i.e. bloodhounds); the Collier Ms. 
and Craik, loins; Walker, times; Staunton, tombs; Jervis and Dyce, 
minds. Value of these suggestions? Wright appropriately quotes, as to 
limbs, Timon of A., IV, i, 21- - _T>, where "cold sciatica" is invoked to 
cripple the limbs ; and he remarks, " From bodily plagues Antony rises to 
the quarrels of families, and reaches a climax in fierce civil strife." 
Verify this ! Beeching denies it. — " Lear's curses were certainly levelled 
at his daughters' limbs.' ' Wright. — 267. familiar. Trisyl. ? — 269. with. 
Ill, ii, 195; Abbott, 193. — 270. choked = being choked?— 272. Ate, 
goddess of harm and revenge, a fury of discord ; fr. Gr. ado^at, aaomai, 
to injure. Four times Shakes, mentions her. Craik asks, Where did 
Shakes, get acquainted with this divinity, whose name does not occur, I 
believe, in any Latin author? — Homer and the Greek tragic poets use it 
repeatedly. — 273. confines. Lat. con, together ; finis, boundary. There 
was a Lat. confinium, border. — 273. monarch's. None but a monarch 
or general-in-chief had a right to cry 'Havoc!' — 274. Havoc. A. S. 



SCENE I.] JULIUS CJESAR. 121 

That this foul deed shall smell above the earth 275 

With carrion men, groaning for burial ! 

Enter a Servant. 

You serve Octavius Caesar, do you not ? 

Servant. I do, Mark Antony. 

Antony. Caesar did write for him to come to Rome. 

Servant. He did receive his letters, and is coming ; 2S0 
And bid me say to you by word of mouth — 
Caesar ! — [Seeing the body. 

Antony. Thy heart is big, get thee apart and weep. 
Passion, I see, is catching ; for mine eyes, 
Seeing those beads of sorrow stand in thine, 285 

Began to water. Is thy master coming ? 

Servant. He lies to-night within seven leagues of Rome. 

Antony. Post back with speed, and tell him what hath 
chanc'd : 
Here is a mourning Rome, a dangerous Rome, 
No Rome of safety for Octavius yet : 290 

Hie hence, and tell him so. Yet, stay a while ; 
Thou shalt not back till I have borne this corse 
Into the market-place : there shall I try, 
In my oration, how the people take 

The cruel issue of these bloody men; 295 

According to the which, thou shalt discourse 



hafoc, a hawk. Havoc is supposed to have been originally a term in hawk- 
ing. Skeat. To cry ' Havoc ' was the signal that no quarter should be 
given. See our ed. of Hamlet, V, ii, 352. — dogs of war = tire, sword, 
and famine [Steele, Tatler, 137] ? So Henry V, Prologue, line 7; 1 H< nry 
VI, IV, ii, 10, 11. — Craik questions whether "let slip the dogs of war" 
ought not to be considered as a part of the exclamation of Caesar's spirit. 
Your opinion? — 270". carrion men groaning. The corpse, after decay 
sets in, calls metaphorically for burial. — 283. Passion = sorrow [Wright] ? 
— 284. catching = contagious? Still so used? — 285. beads. 'Crystal 
beads' in King John, II, i, 171. — 287. within seven leagues. Not so. 
He was across the Adriatic, in the city of Apollonia, Illyricum, some hun- 
dreds of miles away. — 290. Rome. See on I, ii, 152. — 292. borne this 
corse. Several hours after the murder, three of Caesar's attendants 
entered, placed the body on a litter, and carried it, with one arm dangling 
over the side of the litter, to the pontifical mansion in the forum. Cal- 
purnia received the body, and, from her house overlooking the forum, saw 
the night encampment of Lepidus, who brought a legion front the Island 
of the Tiber and occupied the forum. Antony offered him the high- 
priesthood made vacant by the death of Caesar. The conspirators went 
up to the height of the Capitoline hill, where Decimus Brutus had taken 



122 JULIUS CAESAR. [ACT III. 

To young Octavius of the state of things. 

Lend me your hand. [Exeunt with Cesar's body. 

Scene II. The Forum. 
Enter Brutus and Cassius ivith the p>lebeians. 

Citizens. We will be satisfied ; let us be satisfied. 

Brutus. Then follow me, and give me audience, friends. — 
Cassius, go you into the other street, 
And part the numbers. — 

Those that will hear me speak, let 'em stay here ; 5 

Those that will follow Cassius, go with him ; 
And public reason shall be rendered 
Of Caesar's death. 

First Citizen. I will hear Brutus speak. 

Second Citizen. I will hear Cassius ; and compare their 
reasons, 
When severally we hear them rendered. 10 

[Exit Cassius, with some of the citizens. Brutus goes 
into the pulpit. 

Third Citizen. The noble Brutus is ascended. Silence ! 

Brutus. Be patient fill the last. — 

Romans, countrymen, and lovers ! Hear me for my cause, 
and be silent, that you may hear. Believe me for mine 

possession of the Capitol with a body of gladiators. — 297. young Octa- 
vius. Born Sept. 23, B.C. 63. — Your comments on this remarkable 
scene ? 

Scene II. Several days elapsed before the funeral. — 1. be satisfied = 
be appeased? have satisfaction rendered us? Ill, i, 48, 142. — 2. audience 
an assembly of hearers? a hearing? — 4. numbers. Addison used this 
word in the sense of a multitude. 7. rendered = given [Rolfe] ? given 
in return or compensation for the slaughter of Caesar [Craik] ? given in 
answer to the people's inquiries? — Lat. re, back; dare, to give. — III, i, 
185. — Scan. Abbott, 474. — 9. compare = let us compare [Wright]? we 
will compare [Rolfe] ? compare ye ? Abbott, 399. — 10. severally. Exact 
meaning? — Lat. se, apart; parare, to arrange. Lat. separare became 
sep'rare, whence Fr. server, to separate. Worcester, Bracket. — 11. is 
ascended. In Shakespeare's time the perfect tense of verbs of motion 
was formed with 'to be' and not with 'have.' Wrtght. — With verbs of 
motion, where stress is laid not on the action but on the consequent state, 
the auxiliary is often be, not have. Beeching. Verify! — 13, etc. Note 
the sententious style of the following speech. See I, ii, 158-171. — "He 
[Brutus] counterfeited that brief compendious speech of the Lacedaemo- 
nians." North's (1*512) Plutarch, Life of Brutus. — Observe the antithe- 
ses; also the logical ground of hearing, listening, believing, and judging. 
Does the use of prose indicate argument rather than sentiment? — lovers. 



SCENE II.] JULIUS CAESAR. 123 

honor, and have respect to mine honor, that yon may be- 
lieve. Censure me in your wisdom, and awake your senses, 
that you may the better judge. 

If there be any in this assembly, any dear friend of 
Coesar's, to him I say, that Brutus' love to Caesar was no 
less than his. If, then, that friend demand why Brutus 
rose against Caesar, this is my answer : (Not that I lov'd 
Caesar less, but that I lov'd Borne more/} Had you rather 
Caesar were living and die all slaves, than that Caesar were 
dead, to live all freemen ? 

As Caesar loved me, I weep for him ; as he was fortunate, 
I rejoice at it ; as he was valiant, I honor him : but, as he 
was ambitions, I slew him. There is tears for his love ; 
joy for his fortune ; honor for his valor ; and death for his 
ambition! 

Who is here so base that would be a bondman ? If any, 
speak ! for him have I offended. Who is here so rude that 
would not be a Boman ? If any, speak ! for him have I 
offended. Who is here so vile that will not love his coun- 
try ? If any, speak ! for him have I offended. I pause for 
a reply. — 32 

All. None, Brutus, none. 

Brutus. Then none have I offended. I have done no 
more to Caesar than you shall do to Brutus. The question 

II, iii, 7; Mer. of Fen., Ill, iv, 7. — 14. honor. 'Still harping on ' his 
honor! — 15. have respect to = pay attention to, consider, regard. 
IV, iii, 69. — Lat. re, back; spectre, to see, to spy; respectus, a looking 
back or at, regard. — 1(3. censure = blame ? judge? Shakes, is fond of 
using words in their etymological sense. Lat. censere, to give an opinion 
or account, to tax, appraise. Hamlet, I, iii, 69, "Take each man's cen- 
sure, but reserve thy judgment." So in Bacon's Adv. of Learn., ii, Introduc, 
15. — "Censure is probably used for the jingle it makes with senses." 
Hudson. Likely? — 21. less . . . more, Than what? — Less than the 
' dear friend ' loved Cpesar ; more than the ' dear friend ' loved Rome 
[Craik] ? more than I loved C;esar ? — had you rather. I, ii, 91, 168. 
" Had as lief, had better, /mil like, had as good, and had rather, are some- 
times criticised ; but they are idioms whicla have been in use from early 
times, and are abundantly supported by the best authorities." Prof. B. F. 
Tweed. — Note the antitheses. They remind of Lincoln in his first in- 
augural address, " Can aliens make treaties easier than friends can make 
laws ? Can treaties be more faithfully enforced between aliens than laws 
can among friends?" — 26. There is tears. "When the subject is as 
yet future, and, as it were, unsettled, the third person singular might be 
regarded as the normal inflection." Abbott, 335; Tempest, I, ii, 477; 
Cymbel., Ill, i, 36; Macbeth, II, iii, 122. Tears are regarded as making 
oiie thing [Craik]? — 29. rude = destitute of delicacy of feeling, brutal 
[Wright," Schmidt] ? unrefined, uncivilized? — Lat. rudis, rough, raw, 
rude, wild, untilled. — 35. question = statement of the reasons why 



124 JULIUS CAESAR. [ACT III. 

of his death is enrolled in the Capitol; his glory not ex- 
tenuated, wherein he was worthy, nor his offences enforced, 
for which he suffered death. 38 



Enter Antony and others, with Cesar's body. 

Here comes his body, mourned by Mark Antony : who, 
though he had no hand in his death, shall receive the benefit 
of his dying, a place in the commonwealth ; as which of 
you shall not ? With this I depart, — that, as I slew my 
best lover for the good of Rome, I have the same dagger 
for myself, when it shall please my country to need my 
death. 44 

All. Live, Brutus ! live, live ! 

First Citizen. Bring him with triumph home unto his 
house. 

Second Citizen. Give him a statue with his ancestors. 

Third Citizen. Let him be Caesar. 

Fourth Citizen. Caesar's better parts 

Shall be crown'd in Brutus. 

First Citizen. We'll bring him to his house 

With shouts and clamors. ' 50 

Brutus. My countrymen — 

Second Citizen. Peace, silence ! Brutus speaks. 

First Citizen. Peace, ho ! 

[Craik, Rolfe] ? the ' how and why ' [Meiklejohn] ? reason [Hudson] ? 
statement of the causes and circumstances [Beeching]? — 30. enrolled, 
etc., = made matter of solemn official record in the hooks of the Senate 
[Hudson] ? formally recorded [Wright] ? formally explained and regis- 
tered [Meiklejohn] ? — Capitol. Antony as consul summoned the Senate 
to meet in the temple of Tellus at daybreak, March 17. They then and 
there decreed that no investigation should be made of the subject of 
Caesar's assassination, and that all his enactments and dispositions should 
remain valid, for the sake of peace. Merivale. Brutus was confirmed for 
governor of Macedonia; Cassius, for Syria; Trebonius, Asia (Minor?); 
Cimber, Bithyuia ; Decimus, Cisalpine Gaul, etc. — 36. extenuated. Lat. 
ex, out, out and out, i.e. thoroughly; tenuis, stretched out, thin; \/tan, 
Sansc. tan, to stretch; Lat. extenuare, to make very thin; diminish. — 
37. enforc'd = exaggerated, magnified? — In Coriol., II, iii, 213, 'euforce 
his pride ' = lay stress upon, emphasize, his pride. — Same antithesis in 
Ant. and Cleop., V, ii, 124, "We will extenuate rather than enforce."' — 
39. Here comes his body. The Senate decreed a magnificent funeral in 
the Campus Martins. — 41. commonwealth. Conciliatory? — 47. statue, 
etc. I, iii, 145. — 48. parts = talents ? traits? — 49. shall be crown'd. 
So the folios. Pope (1723), anxious to reduce the shouts of the mob to 
exact rhythm, inserted now after ' shall.' Nearly every subsequent editor 
has followed the example. Rightly? — 50. house. Situated where? — 



SCENE n.] JULIUS CMSAR. 125 

Brutus. Good countrymen, let me depart alone, 
And, for my sake, stay here with Antony : 
Do grace to Caesar's corpse, and grace his speech 55 

Tending to Caesar's glories ; which Mark Antony, 
By our permission, is allow'd to make. 
I do entreat you, not a man depart, 
Save I alone, till Antony have spoke. [Exit. 

First Citizen. Stay, ho ! and let us hear Mark Antony. 60 

Third Citizen. Let him go up into the public chair ; 
We'll hear him. — Noble Antony, go up. 

Antony. For Brutus' sake, I am beholding to you. 

[Goes into the pulpit. 

Fourth Citizen. What does he say of Brutus ? 

Third Citizen. He says, for Brutus' sake, 

He finds himself beholding to us all. 65 

Fourth Citizen. 'Twere best he speak no harm of Brutus 
here. 

First Citizen. This Caesar was a tyrant. 

Third Citizen. Nay, that's certain : 

We are blest that Rome is rid of him. 

Second Citizen. Peace ! let us hear what Antony can say. 

Antony. You gentle Romans — 

Citizens. Peace, ho ! let us hear him. 70 

Antony. Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears : 
I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him. 

55. do grace to = show respect to? honor? grace? adorn? Ill, i, 121. — 
So 'do reverence,' line 118. — 56. glories. Walker (1859) changed this 
folio reading to 'glory.' Needful? — 58. uot a man depart. "This 
optative use of the subjunctive dispensing with 'let,' 'may,' etc., gives 
great vigor to the Shakespearian line." Abbott, 365. — 59. save 1 = 1 being 
saved, i.e. excepted. "'Save' seems to be used for 'saved,' and 'he' to 
be the nominative absolute in 'All the conspirators save only he,' in 
V, v, 69." Abbott, 118. Twelfth N., Ill, i, 160. In Sonnet cix, 14, we 
have ' save thou.' Shakes, seems often to disregard the inflections of the 
personal pronouns. Abbott, 206-216. — 61. chair = rostra [Schmidt]? 
Ill, i, 80. — 63. beholding = obliged ? Frequent in Shakes. "'Behold- 
ing' is, I believe, always Bacon's word." Craik. So Thomas Fuller 
(1608-1661). Abbott, 372 ; Mer. of Ven., I, iii, 95. 

68. Nay = no: tyrant is no word for it? don't deny it? not only so, 
but ? ' Nay ' is used sometimes to mark the addition or substitution of 
a more explicit or emphatic phrase. Webster. — 72. bury. A. S. byrgan, 
byrigan, to hide in the ground ; akin to beorgan, to protect. — Both burial 
and cremation were practised at Rome, the latter being the ordinary 
custom. Numa forbade the burning of his own body ; Sylla commanded 
the cremation of his. The dead were burned upon a funeral pyre of wood, 
upon which oil, incense, and spices, and sometimes food and clothing, were 
placed. Finally, the embers were quenched with wine, and the ashes 
deposited in a cinerary urn. — Shakes, does not hesitate to impute English 



126 JULIUS CAESAR. [ACT III. 

The evil that men do lives after them ; 
The good is oft interred with their bones. 
So let it be with Caesar. The noble Brutus ■ 75 

Hath told you Caesar was ambitious : 
If it were so, it was a grievous fault, 
And grievously hath Caesar answer'd it. 
Here, under leave of Brutus and the rest, — 
For Brutus is an honorable man ; 80 

So are they all, all honorable men, — 
Come I to speak in Caesar's funeral. 
He was my friend, faithful and just to me : 
But Brutus says he was ambitious ; 

And Brutus is an honorable man. 85 

He hath brought many captives home to Rome, 
Whose ransoms did the general coffers fill : 
Did this in Caesar seem ambitious ? 
When that the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept : 
Ambition should be made of sterner stuff. 90 

Yet Brutus says he was ambitious ; 
And Brutus is an honorable man. 
You all did see that on the Lupercal 
I thrice presented him a kiugly crown, 
Which he did thrice refuse : was this ambition ? 95 

Yet Brutus says he was ambitious ; 
And, sure, he is an honorable man. 
I speak not to disprove what Brutus spoke, 
But here I am to speak what I do know. 
You all did love him once, not without cause : 100 

/ What cause withholds you, then, to mourn for him ? 
judgment ! thou art fled to brutish beasts, ) 

customs to the Romans. Saul and his three sons were cremated. 1 Sam- 
uel, xxxj, 12. See, as to King Asa, 2 Chron., xvi, 14. — 73. The evil, etc. 
"Men's 'evil manners live in brass, their virtues We write in water." 
Henry VIII, IV, ii, 45, 46. — 76. ambitious. How many syllables? — 
Ambition being the gravamen of Brutus' complaint, Antony uses every 
effort to disprove it, and adroitly disparage the motives of the murderers. 
— 78. answered it = atoned for it, and so 'squared the account'? See 
I, iii, 113; Meas. for Meas., II, ii, 93. — 80. honorable. He has caught 
the word from Brutus? — 82. in Caesar's funeral. Ill, i, 231, 234. — 
89. that. Ill, i, 93; Abbott, 287. — 93. Lupercal. " Shakespeare speaks 
of the Lupercal as if it were a hill. It was in reality a cave or grotto, in 
which Romulus and Remus were found." Wright. Clearly Wright is mis- 
taken. It was on the day or on the feast ! The festival was called 
Lupercalia? See I, i, 67; ii, 223, 224. — 101. to mourn. Would present 
usage allow this after withhold? Abbott, 356. — 102. brutish. Verbal 



SCENE II.] JULIUS CAESAR. 127 

And men have lost their reason. Bear with me ; 

My heart is in the coffin there with Caesar, 

And I must pause till it come back to me. 105 

First Citizen. Methinks there is much reason in his say- 
ings. 

Second Citizen. If thou consider rightly of the matter, 
Caesar has had great wrong. 

Third Citizen. Has he, masters ? 

I fear there will be a worse come in his place. 

Fourth Citizen. Mark'd ye his words ? He would not 
take the crown ; no 

Therefore 'tis certain he was not ambitious. 

First Citizen. If it be found so, some will dear abide it. 

Second Citizen. Poor soul ! his eyes are red as fire with 
weeping. 

Third Citizen. There's not a nobler man in Rome than 
Antony. 

Fourth Citizen. Now mark him : he begins again to speak. 

Antony. But yesterday the word of Caesar might 116 

Have stood against the world ; now lie? he there, 
(And none so poor to do him reverence. ' 
D masters \ if I were dispos'd to stir 

Your hearts and minds to mutiny and rage, 120 

I should do Brutus wrong, and Cassius wrong, 
Who, you all know, are honorable men. 
I will not do them wrong ; I rather choose 
To wrong the dead, to wrong myself and you, 
Than I will wrong such honorable men. 125 

But here's a parchment with the seal of Caesar ; 

play? — 104. coffin. Anachronism? Note on line 72. — Gr. x6<f>ivo<;, Lat. 
kophinus, a hamper, basket ; O. Fr. rofin, a chest, case. The dead bodies 
that were not burned were usually coffined? — 105. pause. Just as 
Brutus paused, line 32! Had he heard Brutus' speech? — 108. Has 
he, masters? The metre seems to require another syllable, and many 
insert not before 'masters.' Justifiably? — Note the change of sentiment 
on the part of the citizens ! — 112. abide. Ill, i, 95. — 118. none so poor, 
etc. = the meanest man is now too high to do reverence to Caesar [Johnson] ? 
There is none so poor as [Beeching] ? There is none to do him reverence 
so poor as himself [Wright] ? even the poorest man thinks himself too 
good — too superior — to show him any respect [Delius]. Choose! — 
119. masters! Why does he call them masters ? — 120. mutiny and 
ra<?e. 'Rage and mutiny' in Plutarch. — Abbott, 281. — 125. than I 
will = what? — Note the skill with which he groups the 'honorable' 
assassins on one side, and himself, Caesar, and his listeners on the other 
side ! — 126. parchment. So called from Pergamus (now Bergamo), 



128 JULIUS CAESAR. [ACT III. 

I found it in his closet, 'tis his will : 

Let but the commons hear this testament, — 

Which, pardon me, I do not mean to read, — 

And they would go and kiss dead Caesar's wounds 130 

And dip their napkins in his sacred blood; 

Yea, beg a hair of him for memory, 

And, dying, mention it within their wills, 

Bequeathing it as a rich legacy 

Unto their issue. 135 

Fourth Citizen. We'll hear the will : read it, Mark Antony. 

All. The will, the will ! we will hear Caesar's will. 

Antony. Have patience, gentle friends, I must not read it : 
It is not meet you know how Caesar lov'd you. 
You are not wood, you are not stones, but men ; 140 

And, being men, hearing the will of Caesar, 
It will inflame you, it will make you mad : 
'Tis good you know not that you are his heirs ; 
For, if you should, oh, what would come of it ! 

Fourth Citizen. Read the will ! we'll hear it, Antony ! 145 
You shall read us the will ! Caesar's will ! 

Antony. Will you be patient ? will you stay a while ? 
I have o'ershot myself to tell you of it : 
I fear I wrong the honorable men 
Whose daggers have stabb'd Caesar. I do fear it. 150 

Fourth Citizen. They were traitors ! honorable men ! 

All. The will ! the testament ! 



where it was invented, about 190 B.C., by King Eumenes, the founder of 
the celebrated library there. The t is excrescent. Skeat, q.v. — 127. I 
found it, etc. During the night after the murder, Calpuruia, who seems 
to have acted with discretion and resolution, transferred from her man- 
sion overlooking the forum to the house of the consul Antony treasures 
to the amount of 4000 talents, and the private papers of Caesar including 
his will. —128. commons = the plebeians? 2 Henri/ IV, II, iii, 51; 
Coriolanus, II, i, 255. — testament. Lat. testis, a witness, testari, to 
testify; testament urn, a thing which testifies. The suffix -mention in 
Lat. denotes act, means, or result. Which here? — Note the coupling 
of an English and a Latin word in the phrase 'last will and testament': 
so 'assemble and meet together,' 'dissemble nor cloak,' 'aid and abet,' 
etc. — 129. do not mean to read. Cunning? — 131. napkins. Lat. 
in<<i>ii<{, Low Lat. nappa, a cloth; Fr. nappe, a table-cloth: -kin is a 
diminutive suffix. See our Masterpieces, pp. 109, 229. — In Othello, III, 
iii, 2(H) and 305, the same thing is called both 'napkin' and 'handker- 
chief.' So in Scotland to-day. — 139 to 144. The adroitness of these sug- 
gestions ! — 142. mad. Provincial sense? colloquial? Ira furor brevis 
est. — 148. o'ershot myself = gone too far? said too much? — Picture 
in your mind's eye?— to tell. Abbott, 356. — 150. daggers have 



SCENE II.] JULIUS CJESAE. 129 

Second Citizen. They were villains, murderers ! the will ! 
read the will ! 

Antony. You will compel me, then, to read the will ? 
Then make a ring about the corpse of Ceesar, 
And let me show you him that made the will. 
Shall I descend, and will you give me leave ? 

Several Citizens. Come down. 

Second Citizen. Descend. 160 

Third Citizen. You shall have leave. [Antony comes down. 

Fourth Citizen. A ring; stand round. 

First Citizen. Stand from the hearse, stand from the body. 

Second Citizen. Room for Antony ! most noble Antony ! 

Antony. Nay, press not so upon me ; stand far off. 165 

Several Citizens. Stand back ! room ! bear back ! 
^ Antony. If you have tears, prepare to shed them now. 
You all do know this mantle : I remember 
The first time ever Ceesar put it on ; 

'Twas on a summer's evening, in his tent, 170 

That day he overcame the Nervii. 

stabbed, etc. Vividness and ingenuity ? — 165. far off = at a distance ? 
farther away? — Why does he want a larger ring? — Far and near are 
sometimes used for 'farther' and 'nearer' in Shakes. " Er final seems 
to have been sometimes pronounced with a kind of ' burr,' which produced 
the effect of an additional syllable." Abbott, 478. So the r alone ? See 
III, i, 172; Mer. of Ven., Ill, ii, 297. — 158. will you give me leave? 
Why this humble deference?— 160. The stage direction is by Rowe (1709). 
— 163. hearse. Lat. hirpex, O. E. fierce, a harrow. This word has gone 
through the following changes of sense : (1) a harrow ; (2) a triangular 
frame for lights in a church service; (3) a frame for lights at a funeral; 
(4) a funeral pageant ; (5) a frame on which a dead body was laid ; (6) a 
carriage for a dead body. — 166. bear back = get further back, give way 
[Wright]? press back [Meiklejohn, Schmidt]? — 168. this mantle. 
"To conclude his oration he unfolded before the whole assembly the 
bloody garments of the dead, thrust through in mauy places with their 
swords, and called the malefactors cruel and cursed murtherers." North's 
Plutarch. — 169. Ellipsis? Abbott, 244. — 171. Is this line an independent 
sentence ? — That day he overcame the Nervii. Summer, 57 B.C. 
They lived in French Flanders, and in Hainault, Belgium. The Belgians 
were the bravest of the Gauls, and the Nervii the bravest of the Belgians. 
The battle was fought on the banks of the Sambre, not far from Waterloo 
and Sedan. Caesar's army was taken by surprise, and it was only saved 
by his personal bravery united with consummate skill. The enemy 
fought to the death and were annihilated. "Of six hundred senators, 
we have lost all but three; of sixty thousand fighting men, five hundred 
only remain," said the committee of elders and women in their petition 
to Caesar for clemency. Antony, who did not join Caesar in Gaul till three 
years later, is very artful in this indirect appeal to the pride which every 
Roman felt in the military glory of the nation. — The 'mantle' of course 
was the purpled-bordered toga, and Caesar would have no use for it iu the 
far north. 



130 JULIUS CAESAR. [ACT III. 

Look, in this place ran Cassius' dagger through ! 

See what a rent the envious Casca made : 

Through this the well-beloved Brutus stabb'd; 

And as he pluck'd his cursed steel away, 175" 

Mark how the blood of Caesar follow'd it, 

As rushing out of doors, to be resolv'd 

If Brutus so unkindly knock' d, or no ; 

For Brutus, as you know, was C_esar"s angel. 

Judge, you gods, how dearly Caesar lov'd him ! 180 

This was th_e.-m.ost unkindest cut of all ; 

'For when the noble Caesar saw him stab, 

Ingratitude, more strong than traitors' arms, 

Quite vanquish.' d him : then burst his mighty heart ; 

And, in his mantle muffling up his face, 185 

Even at the base of Pompey's statue, 

Which all the while ran blood, great Caesar fell. 

0, what a fall was there, my countrymen ! 

Then I, and you, and all of us fell clown, 

Whilst bloody treason flourish'd over us ! 190 

Oh, now you weep ! and, I perceive, you feel 

172. How could Antony identify the places in the mantle ? — 173. en- 
vious. II, i, 1G4, 178. — 177. resolv'd. Ill, i, 132. Note the lively per- 
sonification ! — 17!). Caesar's angel = inseparable from Caesar as his 
guardian angel [Wright] ? trusted as Caesar would trust his guardian 
angel [Boswell] ? Caesar's best beloved, his darling [Craik] ? Caesar's 
counterpart, his good genius [Hudson] ? — Caesar's guardian angel ('.' that's 
the spirit that keeps thee," Ant, and C'leop.) and therefore especially in 
duty bound to profit/ Caesar? — See II, i, 66; Comedy of Errors, V, i, 
331-334; Macbeth, III, i, 55; Ant. and C'leop., II, iii, 20-31; Trail, and 
Cres., IV, iv, 50. — Are angel and genius the same? — 181. most unkind- 
est. Ill, i, 122. — Suetonius tells us that only the second stab was mortal. 
— 186. statue. Trjsyl. ? Cotgrave (Fr. and Eng. Diet., 16(i0) makes 
statue three syllables? Usually changed by the editors to statua. This 
statue is said to have been dug up in 1553, to be eleven feet high, of 
Greek marble, and now shown in the Spado palace in Koine. 1 — 189. Note 
that again Antony groups all the assassins on one side, and all of us on 
the other ! See note on line 125. — 190. flourish'd = triumphed [Wright, 
Deighton, Meikleiohn] ? brandished a sword [Steevens, Schmidt] ? sprang up 
and grew strong [Beeching] ? — Is not the contrast between the fallen con- 
dition of " you and me and all of us " on the one hand and the flourishing 

1 " And thou, dread statue ! yet existent in 
The austerest form of naked majesty ! 
Thou, who beheldest, mid the assassins' din, 
At thy bathed base the bloody Caesar lie, 
Folding his robe in dying' dignity, 
An offering to thy altar from the queen 
Of gods and men, great Nemesis ! Did he die, 
And thou too perish, Pompey '? Have ye been 
Victors of countless kings, or puppets of a scene ? " 

— Byron. 



SCENE II.] JULIUS C^SAR. 131 

The dint of pity : these are gracious drops. 

Kind souls, what ! weep you when you but behold 

Our Caesar's vesture wounded ? Look you here, 

Here is himself, marr'd, as you see, with traitors. 195 

First Citizen. piteous spectacle ! 

Second Citizen. noble Caesar ! 

Third Citizen. woful day ! 

Fourth Citizen. traitors, villains ! 

First Citizen. most bloody sight ! 200 

Second Citizen. We will be reveng'd. 
Eevenge! About! Seek! Burn! Fire! Kill! Slay! 
Let not a traitor live ! 

Antony. Stay, countrymen. 

First Citizen. Peace there ! hear the noble Antony. 205 

Second Citizen. We'll hear him, we'll follow him, we'll 
die with him ! 

Antony. Good friends, sweet friends, let me not stir 
you up 
To such a sudden flood of mutiny. 

They that have done this deed are honorable : 210 

What private griefs they have, alas, I know not, 
That made them do it : they are wise and honorable, 
And will, no doubt, with reasons answer you. 
I come not, friends, to steal away your hearts : 
~y I am no orator, as Brutus is ; 215 

But, as you know me all, a plain blunt man, 
That love my friend ; and that they know full well 
That gave me public leave to speak of him : 
For I have neither writ, nor words, nor worth, 
Action, nor utterance, nor the power of speech, 220 

To stir men's blood : I only speak right on ; 



of bloody treason on the other? — 192. dint = force? impression? influ- 
ence? — A. S. dynt, a blow, force. — Dent usually is the word for the 
result. — gracious. Implying something divine? See our ed. of Hamlet. 
I, i, 164. — 19(1. marr'd. Isaiah, lii, 14. — with traitors. See 'with' 
in III, i, 269. Abbott, 193. — 201, 202. Dyce, Wright, Deighton, Meikle- 
john and some others assign ' revenge ' and the following ten or a dozen 
words to all the citizens. We follow the folio. — 211. private. In con- 
trast with ' public, ' line 7? — For 'griefs,' see I, iii, 117. — 213. reasons. 
As much as to say, No reasons have yet been given? — -III, i, 222, 225. 238; 
ii, 7.— 217-224. This disclaimer ! A master stroke ! — 219. writ. So the 
folio, followed by Johnson and Malone, though the editors generally sub- 
stitute 'wit.' The latter would mean understanding? ability? knowl- 
edge ? power to know ? imaginative faculty ? common sense ? — Writ = 



132 JULIUS CMSAK. [ACT hi. 

I tell you that which you yourselves do know ; 

Show you sweet Caesar's wounds, poor, poor dumb mouths ! 

And bid them speak for me : but, were I Brutus, 

And Brutus Antony, there were an Antony 225 

Would ruffle up your spirits and put a tongue 

In every wound of Caesar, that should move 

The stones of Rome to rise and mutiny. 

All. We'll mutiny. 

First Citizen. We'll burn the house of Brutus. 230 

Third Citizen. Away, then! come, seek the conspirators. 

Antony. Yet hear me, countrymen; yet hear me speak. 

All. Peace, ho ! Hear Antony ! Most noble Antony ! 

Antony. Why, friends, you go to do you know not what. 
Wherein hath Caesar thus deserv'd your loves ? 235 

Alas, you know not ! I must tell you, then : 
You have forgot the will I told you of. 

All. Most true. The will ! Let's stay and hear the will. 

Antony. Here is the will, and under Caesar's seal. 
To every Roman citizen he gives, 240 

To every several man, seventy-five drachmas. 

Second Citizen. Most noble Caesar ! We'll revenge his' 
death. 

Third Citizen. royal Caesar ! 

Antony. Hear me with patience. 

All. Peace, ho ! 245 

Antony. Moreover, he hath left you all his walks, 
His private arbors and new-planted orchards, 
On this side Tiber. He hath left them you, 
And to your heirs forever, common pleasures, 
To walk abroad, and recreate yourselves. 250 

Here was a Caesar ! when comes such another ? 

First Citizen. Never, never ! Come, away, away ! 

written matter? thoughts "set in a note-book, learn'd and conu'd by 
rote " ? Act IV, sc.iii, 97. — 225. Brutus Antony = were Brutus Antony ? 
were I Brutus combined with Antony, we two making one? — 226, 227. 
tongue . . . wound. Corlol., II, iii, 5. — 228. stones. .Luke, xix, 40. — 
235. loves. See 'behaviors,' I, ii, 39; 'wisdoms,' Hamlet, I, ii, 15.— 
241. several. See on 'severally,' III, ii, 10. — drachmas. The drachma 
was 18.6 cents. Seventy-five drachmas, about $14, practically as good at 
least as $100 in our time. Hudson. — 246. walks. See on I, ii, 151. — 
247. orchards. See heading of Act II, sc. i. — 248. this side. Antony 
is in the Forum ? Caesar's gardens were across the Tiber. Shakes, follows 
North's translation of Plutarch; and North followed Amyot. See map of 
ancient Rome. — 250. Ellipsis? — I, ii, 106, 300. — As to to, see IV, iii, 10, 



SCENE II.] JULIUS CAESAR. 133 

We'll burn his body in the holy place, 

And with the brands fire the traitors' houses. 

Take up the body. 255 

Second Citizen. Go fetch fire. 

Third Citizen. Pluck down benches. 

Fourth Citizen. Pluck down forms, windows, anything. 

[Exeunt Citizens ivith the body. 

Antony. Now let it work. Mischief, thou art afoot, 
Take thou what course thou wilt ! 

Enter a Servant. 

How now, fellow ! 260 

Servant. Sir, Octavius is already come to Rome. 

Antony. Where is he ? 

Servant. He and Lepidus are at Caesar's house. 

Antony. And thither will I straight to visit him : 
He comes upon a wish. Fortune is merry, 265 

And in this mood will give us anything. 

Servant. I heard him say, Brutus and Cassius 
Are rid like madmen through the gates of Rome. 

Antony. Belike they had some notice of the people, 269 
How I had mov'd them. Bring me to Octavius. [Exeunt. 

11. — 253. holy place. At the time of his death, Caesar was chief pontiff. 
In front of his official residence heside the Forum, the body was burned. 

— 254. fire. Syllables? See III, i, 172. — 258. forms = long seats, benches? 

— 261. already come to Rome. Not true? Octavius had been several 
months in camp at Apollonia (see on III, i, 287) studying arts and arms 
among the legions there, and awaiting the arrival of his great-uncle, whom 
he was to accompany to Parthia. It was not till near the end of April that 
he arrived in Rome. — What right has Shakes, to deviate from historical 
accuracy? — 265. upon a wish = as soon as I have wished it? in response 
to my wish? — I, ii, 100; King John, II, i, 50. — 268. are rid, etc. They 
were in Rome from time to time as late as the middle of April. The day 
after the murder, Lepidus is said to have entertained Brutus at supper, 
and Antony Cassius. March 17 the Senate was convened by Antony as 
consul in the temple of Tellus near the Forum. Did the murderers dare 
leave the capitol? Were they present at the discussion in the Senate? — 
269. Belike. Fr. by and like. Mid. N. Dream, I, i, 130. — of = concern- 
ing? from? — Antony was sagacious enough to foresee civil war as the 
natural result of the assassination. Does he appear at his best in this 
third act ? 



134 JULIUS CAESAR. [ACT III. 

Scene III. A Street. 
Enter Cinna the Poet. 

Cinna. I dreamt to-night that I did feast with Caesar, 
And things unluckily charge my fantasy. 
I have no will to wander forth of doors, 
Yet something leads me forth. 

Enter Citizens. 

First Citizen. What is your name ? 5 

Second Citizen. Whither are you going ? 

Third Citizen. Where do you dwell ? 

Fourth Citizen. Are you a married man, or a bachelor ? 

Second Citizen. Answer every man directly. 

First Citizen. Ay, and briefly. 10 

Fourth Citizen. Ay, and wisely. 

Third Citizen. Ay, and truly, you were best. 

Cinna. What is my name ? Whither am I going ? 
Where do I dwell ? Am I a married man, or a bachelor ? 
Then, to answer every man directly, and briefly, wisely and 
truly. Wisely, I say, I am a bachelor. 16 

Second Citizen. That's as much as to say, they are fools 
that marry. You'll bear me a bang for that, I fear. Pro- 
ceed; directly. 

Cinna. Directly, I am going to Caesar's funeral. 20 

First Citizen. As a friend or an enemy ? 

Scene III. Cinna the Poet. " One Cinna, a friend of Caesar's, had 
a strange dream the preceding night. He dreamed, as they tell us, that 
C<esar invited him to supper, and, upon his refusal to go, caught him by 
the hand and drew him after him in spite of all the resistance he could 
make." Plutarch. — 1. To-night. Which night? — See on II, ii, 1.— 
2. unluckily. Warburton would read 'unlucky'; Collier, 'unlikely,' 
which Craik adopts. Best? — charge = accuse? burden? load? fill? — 
Lat. carrus, a car, wagon. Low Lat. can- tea re, to load; Fr. charger. — 
fantasy. II, i, 231. See our Hamlet, I, i, 23. — 3. forth of. Mer. of 
Ven., II, v, 11, 16-18, 36; Tempest, V, i, 160. Abbott, 156. — 8. bachelor. 
Low Lat. bacca for vacca, a cow; baccalarius, a cowherd, cow-boy, farm 
' hand,' young man! — 9. directly. I, i, 12. — 12. you were best. Once 
in such expressions, you was grammatically dative ; but it came to be 
nominative. We find" I were best " in Cvmbel., Ill, vi, 19. 1 Henry VI, 
V, iii, 83; Abbott, 190, 230, 352; Mer. of Ven., I, lii, 27. — 16. Does wisely 
modify say?— 18. bear me = what? — See me in I, ii, 256; Abbott, 230. 
— Cinna. Helvius Cinna. The conspirator, Cornelius Cinna, when he 



SCENE III.] JULIUS CsESAR. 135 

Cinna. As a friend. 

Second Citizen. That matter is answered directly. 

Fourth Citizen. For your dwelling, — briefly. 

Cinna. Briefly, I dwell by the Capitol. 25 

Third Citizen. Your name, sir, truly. 

Cinna. Truly, my name is Cinna. 

First Citizen. Tear him to pieces ; he's a conspirator ! 

Cinna. I am Cinna the poet ! I am Cinna the poet ! 

Fourth Citizen. Tear him for his bad verses, tear him for 
his bad verses ! 31 

Cinna. I am not Cinna the conspirator. 

Fourth Citizen. It is no matter, his name's Cinna; pluck 
but his name out of his heart, and turn him going. 

Third Citizen. Tear him, tear him ! Come, brands, ho ! 
firebrands ! to Brutus', to Cassius' ; burn all. Some to 
Decius' house, and some to Casca's ; some to Ligarius' ! 
Away ! go ! [Exeunt. 

addressed the people on the 16th of March, was mohhed. — 34. turn him 
going. As You Like It, III, i, 181. — 35. brands, ho! As consul, 
Antony interfered to check the progress of disorder, and he took pains to 
conciliate the Senate, whose countenance he needed. "He even sought 
an interview with Brutus and Cassius, and offered to guarantee their 
security. The Senate blindly granted him a body-guard." 



136 JULIUS CAESAR. [ACT IV. 



ACT IV. 

Scene I. A House in Rome. 
Enter Antony, Octavius, and Lepidus. 

Antony. These many, then, shall die ; their names are 
prick'd. 

Octavius. Your brother too must die ; consent you, Lepi- 
dus ? 

Lepidus. I do consent — 

Octavius. Prick him down, Antony. 

Lepidus. Upon condition Publius shall not live, 
Who is your sister's son, Mark Antony. 5 

Antony. He shall not live ; look, with a spot I damn him. 
But, Lepidus, go you to Caesar's house ; 
Fetch the will hither, and we shall determine 
How to cut off some charge in legacies. 

Act IV, Scene I. More than nineteen months have elapsed since the 
assassination. See the histories. — This scene is apparently located in 
Rome (lines 7-11) ; hut the meeting is commonly said to have really taken 
place in November, 43 B.C., and to have lasted three days, on a little island 
near Bononia (Bologna), in the broad channel of the river Rhenus (Reno), 
a tributary of the Po. There was, however, a later conference in the city. 
" On the 27th of November the Triumvirate was proclaimed. The triumvirs, 
about to quit Rome to combat the murderers of Caesar in the east, would 
leave no enemies in their rear. Sitting with a list of chief citizens before 
them, each picked out the names of victims he personally required. Each 
purchased the right to proscribe a kinsman of his colleagues by surrender- 
ing one of his own. The fatal memorial was headed with the names of a 
brother of Lepidus, an uncle of Autonius, and a cousin of Octavius." 
Mi rivale. " To complete the satisfaction of Lepidus and Antony, his com- 
rades in the second triumvirate, Augustus did not scruple to add to the 
list of those who were to die the names of the nearest and dearest to him. 
Between these monsters of cruelty — between Marius and Sulla, who went 
before him, and Octavius and Antony who followed him — Caesar has 
become famous for clemency." Trollope. — Note in this scene the contrast 
between Octavius and Antony. Compare, too, their motives with those 
of Brutus and Cassius. As to Lepidus, see Ant. and Cleop., II, ii; vii; 
III, ii, 5, 6. — 1. prick'd. Line 16; III, i, 217.— 4, 5. Publius . . . your 
sister's son. No; Plutarch says it was Lucius Caesar, and Antony was 
his sister's son. It has been suggested that we should read, " You are his 
sister's son." Allowable? — Was the blunder one of the grounds on which 
Antony despised Lepidus as stupid ? — 8. will. Ill, ii, 239 et seq. — 9. cut 



SCENE I.] JULIUS CAESAR. 137 

Lepidus. What, shall I find you here ? 10 

Octavius. Or here, or at the Capitol. [Exit Lepidus. 

Antony. This is a slight unmeritable man, 
Meet to be sent on errands : is it fit, 
The threefold world divided, he should stand 
One of the three to share it ? 

Octavius. So you thought him ; 15 

And took his voice who should be prick'd to die, 
In our black sentence and proscription. 

Antony. Octavius, I have seen more days than you : 
And though we lay these honors on this man, 
To ease ourselves of divers sland'rous loads, 20 

He shall but bear them as the ass bears gold, 
To groan and sweat under the business, 
Either led or driven, as we point the way ; 
And having brought our treasure where we will, 
Then take we down his load, and turn him off, 25 

Like to the empty ass, to shake his ears, 
And graze in commons. 

Octavius. You may do your will ; 

But he's a tried and valiant soldier. 

Antony. So is my horse, Octavius ; and for that 
I do appoint him store of provender : 30 

It is a creature that I teach to fight, 
To wind, to stop, to run directly on, 



off, etc. Having received from Calpurnia Cresar's papers, and won 
over Cajsar's secretary, Antony could pretend or forge authority for any- 
thing. — 12. slight. IV, iii, 37. — unmeritable. Active or passive 
meaning? — Richard III, III, vii, 155. — 14. threefold world divided. 
Antony took the two Gauls (not Narbonese, but Transalpine and Cisal- 
pine) ; Lepidus, Spain, and what is now southeastern France; Octavius, 
Africa and the islands, Sicily, etc. Italy they retained in common. The 
Orient they left for future division. — 15. So. How? — 17. proscription. 
They first doomed seventeen, one being Cicero. Antony demanded him, 
and Octavius yielded. — 18. more days. Antony born 83 B.C.? Octavius 
63? — 22. business. Trisyl.?— 23. either. " The th seems to have been 
almost silent." Beechiny. — 25. turn him off. Octavius it was that 
turned him off at last. Ant. and Cleop,, III, v, 7 ; vi, 27. — 27. commons = 
pasture lands belonging to the public, or held in common? — 28. soldier. 
Trisyl. ? — 30. appoint = what ? — store = what ? — Milton has ' store of 
ladies,' meaning 'abundance' of ladies? — Lat. instaurare, to construct, 
restore, renew; Low Lat. instaurare, to provide necessaries. Skeat. — 
provender. Lat. prsebere, to afford, give; prsebenda, in late Lat., a daily 
allowance of provisions. Was it Caligula ' that made his horse consul ' ? — 
31. It. Used contemptuously [Wright]? — 32. wind = turn? — ' To turn 
and wind a fiery Pegasus.' 1 Henry IV, IV, i, 109. — directly = imme- 



138 JULIUS C&SAR. [ACT IV. 

His corporal motion govern'd by my spirit. 

And, in some taste, is Lepidus but so ; 

He must be taught and train' d and bid go forth ; 35 

A barren-spirited fellow ; one that feeds 

On objects, arts, and imitations, 

Which, out of use and stal'd by other men, 

Begin his fashion : do not talk of him, 

But as a property. And now, Octavius, 40 

Listen great things. Brutus and Cassius 

Are levying powers : we must straight make head : 

Therefore let our alliance be combin'd, 

Our best friends made, and our best means stretch'd out ; 

And let us presently go sit in council, 45 

How covert matters may be best disclos'd, 

And open perils surest answered. 

Octavius. Let us do so : for we are at the stake, 
And bay'd about with many enemies ; 

And some that smile have in their hearts, I fear, 50 

Millions of mischiefs. [Exeunt. 

diately? straightforward? — 34. taste = sense? degree? sample? Hamlet, 
II, ii, 418. — 37. The folio has a period after 'imitations.' Knight changed 
it to a comma, mentally supplying 'such' or 'those' before 'objects.' 
Thus Collier, Craik, White', Hudson, Singer, Rolfe, etc., get a good mean- 
ing. Theobald suggested ' abject orts,' iu place of the folio reading, 
'Objects, Arts'; and Dyce, Meiklejohn, Beeching, etc., adopt the sugges- 
tion. Wright, following Staunton, changes the period into a comma, and 
reads 'objects, orts, and imitations.' Choose! — 38. stal'd = made com- 
mon [Wright]? made common and worthless [Schmidt]? — 39. Begin. 
Emphatic? — Are the newest fashion with him [Wright]? — Like Shallow, 
2 Henry IV, III, ii, 289-292, 'ever in the rearward of the fashion'? — 
40. property = mere appendage to help us in the parts wc are acting 
[Wright]? tool? instrument? things owned? — Mid. N. Dream, I, ii, 108 ; 
Merry Wires, III, iv, 10. — 41. listen. V, v, 15; Much Ado, III, i, 12; 
Macbeth, II, ii, 28. Abbott, 199. —42. levying. Lat. lev are ; Fr. lever, 
to raise. — powers = forces, troops? IV, iii, 167, 304; V, iii, 52; Lear, 
IV, v, 1; Macbeth, V, ii, 1. — 44. The first folio reads, 'Our best friends 
made, our meanes stretcht ' ; the second reads as we have given it. — 
45. go sit. So 'go see,' I, ii, 24. Abbott, 199. — 47. surest answered 
= most safely met, or contended with [Wright] ? — 48. at the stake. 
Allusion to bear-baiting? Macbeth, V, 'vii, 1; Lear, III, vii, 53. — 49. 
bay'd. Ill, i, 205; IV, iii, 28. —with. Ill, i, 269; ii, 196. 



SCENE II.] JULIUS CAESAR. 139 



Scene II. Camp near Sardis. Before Brutus' Tent. 

Drum. Enter Brutus, Lucilius, and the Army ; Titinius 
and Pindarus meet them. 

Brutus. Stand, ho ! 

Lucilius. Give the word, ho ! and stand. 

Brutus. What now, Lucilius ! is Cassius near ? 

Lucilius. He is at hand ; and Pindarus is come 
To do you salutation from his master. 5 

Brutus. He greets me well. Your master, Pindarus, 
In his own change, or by ill officers, 
Hath given me some worthy cause to wish 
Things done, undone : but, if he be at hand, 
I shall be satisfied. 

Pindarus. I do not doubt 10 

But that my noble master will appear 
Such as he is, full of regard and honor. 

Brutus. He is not doubted. — A word, Lucilius, 
How he receiv'd you : let me be resolv'd. 

Lucilius. With courtesy and with respect enough ; 15 

But not with such familiar instances, 
Nor with such free and friendly conference, 
As he hath us'd of old. 

Brutus. Thou hast describ'd 

A hot friend cooling. Ever note, Lucilius, 
(When love begins to sicken and decay, 20 

)lt useth an enforced ceremony. 

Scene II. About a year has elapsed since the preceding scene! — Lu- 
cilius brings Pindarus with him from Cassius. — 5. do you salutation. 
So 'do grace,' III, ii, 55; 'do danger,' II, i, 17. Richard III, V, iii, 210; 
Henry V, IV, i, 26.-6. "well = kindly ? properly? opportunely? — ?, in 
his own change = by his own change of disposition towards me [Wright] ? 
because of some change, in himself? — Warburton suggested, and Hudson, 
Beeching, and others substitute 'charge' (meaning command, or those 
under command) for ' change.' The latter seems a misprint for the former 
in Coriol., V, iii, 152. 

12. regard = love? what is entitled to favorable regard? sentiments of 
esteem? — Ill, i, 225. —14. resolv'd. Ill, i, 132; ii, 177. —16. familiar 
instances = marks or proofs of familiarity [Wright, Schmidt, Beeching, 
Meiklejohn] ? tokens of familiar friendship? acts of friendly familiarity? 
— instances = assiduities [Craik] ? — As definitions of 'instances' in 
Shakes., Schmidt gives the following: cause, motive, argument, proof; 
sign, symptom, token ; example, precedent ; pattern, sample, specimen ; 



140 JULIUS CAESAR. [ACT IV. 

There are no tricks in plain and simple faith ; 

But hollow men, like horses hot at hand, 

Make gallant show and promise of their mettle ; 

But when they should endure the bloody spur, 25 

They fall their crests, and, like deceitful jades, 

Sink in the trial. Comes his army on ? 

Lucilius. They mean this night in Sardis to be quarter'd ; 
The greater part, the horse in general, 
Are come with Cassius. 

Brutus. Hark ! he is arriv'd. 30 

[Low march within. 
March gently on to meet him. 



Enter Cassius and his Powers. 

Cassius. Stand, ho ! 

Brutus. Stand, ho ! Speak the word along. 

First Soldier. Stand ! 

Second Soldier. Stand ! 35 

Third Soldier. Stand ! 

Cassius. Most noble brother, you have done me wrong. 

Brutus. Judge me, you gods ! wrong I mine enemies ? 
And, if not so, how should I wrong a brother ? 

Cassius. Brutus, this sober form of yours hides wrongs ; 
And when you do them — 41 

Brutus. Cassius, be content; 

Speak your griefs softly : I do know you well. 
Before the eyes of both our armies here, 
Which should perceive nothing but love from us, 
Let us not wrangle. Bid them move away ; 45 

sentence, saw, proverb. — 23. hollow = insincere ? false? Tempest, III, i, 
70. — at hand = in hand [Wright, Beeching, etc.]? when held by the 
hand, or led, or rather, perhaps, when acted upon only by the rein [Cr'aik] ? 
when held back or restrained [Hudson] ? curbed or held in [Meiklejohn] ? 
— ■ " The contrast is between the bridle and the spur " ? — See ' at hand ' in 
King John, V, ii, 75. — 26. fall = let fall? fall in reference to? — Tempest, 
II, i, 292; Troil. and Cres., I, iii, 379; Richard II, III, iv, 104. Often 
transitive (15 times?) in Shakes. — crests = raised heads and necks 
[Schmidt] ? the upper curve of the neck? — jades, 'term of contempt for 
worthless or wicked [sic] or maltreated horses.' Schmidt. — 37. most 
noble brother. Is this such a greeting as Brutus had expected? See 17- 
20, above. — 39. a brother. II, i, 70. — 41. content. Lat. con, together, 
completely; tenere, to hold ; contentus, held completely or within limits. — 
content = calm ? self restrained ? — 42. softly = not loudly ? — I do know 



SCENE III.] JULIUS CAESAR. 141 

Then in my tent, Cassius, enlarge your griefs, 
And I will give you audience. 

Cassius. Pindarus, 

Bid our commanders lead their charges off 
A little from this ground. 

Brutus. Lucius, do you the like ; and let no man 50 

Come to our tent till we have done our conference. 
Lucilius and Titinius, guard our door. [Exeunt. 



Scene III. In Brutus' Tent. 
Enter Brutus and Cassius. 

Cassius. That you have wrong'd me doth appear in this : 
You have condemn'd and noted Lucius Pella 
For taking bribes here of the Sardians ; 
Wherein my letters praying on his side, 
Because I knew the man, was slighted off. 5 

Brutus. You wrong'd yourself to write in such a case. 

Cassius. In such a time as this it is not meet 
That every nice offence should bear his comment. 

Brutus. Let me tell you, Cassius, you yourself 

you well. Why does Brutus say this? — 46. enlarge = set forth at large 
or in full ? exaggerate ? — 47. audience. Lat. sense ? — 48. charges = 
troops under command ? 1 Henry I V, IV, ii , 22. — 49. from = away from ? 
I, iii, 35; Macbeth, III, i, 131. — 50 and 52. Here, in the original folio, in 
line 50, Lucilius is the first word, and in 52 the first words are Let Lucius. 
But, as Craik first pointed out, it would be absurd so to couple the boy 
Lucius with the high officer Titinius. Craik therefore transposed the 
words, and we adopt the reading. Line 50 scans better with Lucius? The 
propriety of the transposition is evident from IV, iii, 125, where Lucilius 
is evidently guarding the door. 

Scene III. The scene changes from the outside to the inside of Brutus' 
tent. The stage direction in the folio, no scenes being marked, is simply 
Exeunt. Manet Brutus and Cassius. — Of a quarrel (the day before?) 
Plutarch says, " Mutual complaints and suspicions arose between Brutus 
and Cassius. To settle these more properly they retired into an apartment 
by themselves. Expostulations, debates, and accusations followed, and 
these were so violent that they burst into tears." Langhorne's Plutarch. 

1. wrong'd. Lines 37-40 of the preceding scene. — 2. condemn'd 
and noted. So in Plutarch. Lat. nota, a sign, mark; notus, known. 
To note = to mark, stigmatize, brand with disgrace. See notorious. — 
3. Sardians. Sardis, capital and residence of the Lydian kings, was 
very ancient, famous, and rich. Among its ruins is a theatre nearly 400 
feet in diameter. See Revelations, iii, 1-6.— 4. Wherein. In what? — 
5. The 1st folio has letters; the 2d, letter. Winter's Tale, IV, iv, 197, has 
" puts him off, slights him." —6. to write =in writing? — 8. nice = fine? 
elegant? slight? minute. Shakes, has nice 7 times in the sense of petty. 



142 JULIUS CAESAR. [ACT IV. 

Are much condemn'd to have an itch ing^palm,J 10 

To sell and mart your offices for gold 
To undeservers. 

Cassius. I ? an itching palm ? 

You know that you are Brutus that speak this, 
Or, by the gods ! this speech were else your last. 

Brutus. The name of Cassius honors this corruption, 15 
And chastisement doth therefore hide his head. 

Cassius. Chastisement ? 

Brutus. Remember March, the Ides of March remember ! 
Did not great Julius bleed for justice' sake ? 
'What villain touch'd his body, that did stab, 20 

(And not for justice ? What ! shall one of us, 
That struck the foremost man of all this world 
But for supporting robbers — shall we now 
Contaminate our fingers with base bribes, 
And sell the mighty space of our large honors 25 

For so much trash as may be grasped thus ? 
I had rather be a dog, and bay the moon, 
Than such a Roman. 

Cassius. Brutus, bait not me ! 

Macbeth, IV, iii, 174, our edition. — his = its. — 10. condemned, though 
not 'noted'? Line 2. — to have = for having;? — itching. For what? 
Itching to sell? or condemned to sell? To sell = for selling? — Rom. and 
Jul., Ill, v, 163.— 11. mart. Cymbel., I, vi, 150; Winter's Tale, IV, iv, 
341. — 13. speaks. Correct? — 15. honors. Brutus still! — 19. justice' 
sake. Abbott, 217. 'Conscience' sake,' Coriol., II, iii, 30. So in the 
Bihle? — The possessive 's was often omitted in Shakes. — 21. justice. 
Did they stab for this? — 22. foremost man. " The sole creative genius 
produced by Rome, and the last produced by the ancient world." Momm- 
Si i). ''The common consent of reading men will probably acknowledge 
that there is in history no name so great as that of Julius Caesar." — 
Anthony Trollope, in Ancient Classics for English Readers, 1870. — "Caesar, 
the all-accomplished statesman, the splendid orator, the man of elegant 
habits and polished taste, the patron of the fine arts in a degree transcend- 
ing all example of his own or the previous age, and as a man of general 
literature so much beyond his contemporaries, except Cicero, that he looked 
down even upon the brilliant Sylla, as an illiterate person — to class such 
a man with the race of furious destroyers exulting in the desolations they 
spread, is to err not by an individual trait, but by the whole genus." De 
Qnincey. — foremost, but for supporting? or struck, but for support- 
ing?—" Brutus answered that he should remember the Ides of March, at 
which time they slew Julius Caesar, who neither pilled nor polled the coun- 
try, but only was the favorer and suborner of all them that rob and spoil 
by his countenance and authority." North's Plutarch. Is the emphatic 
word robbers f or supporting? — Is Brutus telling the truth ? — 25. honors 
again! — 2(j. trash (Scandinavian) = bits of sticks crashed off; i.e., twigs 
broken off with a snap or a crash; worthless sticks; refuse. — 27. bay. 
IV, i, 49. — 28. bait. Icel. beita, to cause to bite; bita, to bite. To bait 



SCENE III.] JULIUS CAESAR. 143 

I'll not endure it : you forget yourself, 

To hedge me in. I am a soldier, I, 30 

Older in practice, abler than yourself 

To make conditions. 

Brutus. Go to ; you are not, Cassius. 

Cassius. I am. 

Brutus. I say you are not. 

Cassius. Urge me no more, I shall forget myself ; 35 

Have mind upon your health, tempt me no farther. 

Brutus. Away, slight man ! 

Cassius. Is't possible ? 

Brutus. Hear me, for I will speak. 

Must I give way and room to your rash choler ? 
Shall I be frighted when a madman stares ? 40 

Cassius. ye gods, ye gods ! must I endure all this ? 

Brutus. All this ? Ay, more : fret till your proud heart 
break ! 
Go show your slaves how choleric you are, 
And make your bondmen tremble ! Must I budge ? 
Must I observe you ? must I stand and crouch 45 

Under your testy humor ? By the gods ! 

a bear is to make the dogs bite him. The picture in the mind's eye is of a 
bear 'hedged in' by dogs? Cassius will not be 'cabined, cribbed, con- 
fined ' by the scruples or the criticisms of Brutus — scruples and criticisms 
that seem to beset him like 'saucy doubts and fears '? Macbeth, III, iv, 
24, 25; V, vii, 1, 2. See line 96. — But all the editors change baite of the 
folios into bay ; and Beeching quotes in explanation from Tuberville 
(1530-lliOO ?), " When the hounds have earthed a vermin, or brought a deer, 
boar, or such like, to turn head against them, then we say, ' They bay.' " 
Art of Venerie. Even with this explanation of bay, we prefer the original 
reading. Bay suggests bait. It is nothing for Brutus, cur-like, to bark at 
Cassius up by the moon, as it were ; but Cassius will not endure being 
snapped at on all sides! — 30. hedge me in = bait me? Wright says, 
put me under restraint. Mer. of Ven., II, i, 18. — 32. conditions = mili- 
tary conditions [Beeching] ? terms on which offices should be conferred 
[Craik]? See line 11. — Go to. See our ed. of Mer. of Ven., I, iii, 105. 

— you are not. Abler? — Vanity on the part of Brutus? — ."6. health 
= safety [Rolfe] ? welfare, prosperity [Schmidt] ? well-being [Wright] ? — 
37. slight. IV, i, 12; I, ii, 190, 197. — 38. Is't possible? Abbott, 514. 

— 39. choler=anger [Wright] ? — Burton's Aria tomy of Melancholy makes 
the four humors, blood, phlegm, yellow bile or choler, black bile or mel- 
ancholy, correspond respectively to the four elements, air, water, fire, 
earth, and give rise to the four temperaments, sanguine, phlegmatic, ner- 
vous, bilious. See Century Dictionary . The bile the seat and cause of 
irascibility? — 43. choleric. "Men reputed him (Cassius) commonly to 
be very skilful in wars, but otherwise marvellous choleric and cruel." 
North's Plutarch. — Lines 43-45 were quoted with great effect by Charles 
Sumner in one of his anti-slavery speeches in the U.S. Senate. — 44. budge. 
French bovger, to stir; Lat bullire (?), to boil. — 45. observe. So, "Ob- 
serve the rules." — 2 Henry IV, IV, iv, 30; St. Mark, vi, 20. —46. testy 



144 JULIUS CAESAR. [ACT IV. 

lYou shall digest the venom of your spleen^ 
Though it do split you ; for, from this day forth, 
I'll use you for my mirth, yea, for my laughter, 
When you are waspish. 

Cassius. Is it come to this ? 50 

Brutus. You say you are a better soldier : 
Let it appear so ; make your vaunting true, 
And it shall please me well. For mine own part, 
I shall be glad to learn of noble men. 

Cassius. You wrong me every way; you wrong me, 
Brutus ; 55 

I said, an elder soldier, not a better : 
Did I say " better " ? 

Brutus. If you did, I care not. 

Cassius. When Caesar liv'd, he durst not thus have mov'd 
me. 

Brutus. Peace, peace ! you durst not so have tempted him. 

Cassius. I durst not ? 60 

Brutus. No. 

Cassius. What ! durst not tempt him ? 

Brutus. For your life you durst not. 

Cassius. Do not presume too much upon my love ; 
I may do that I shall be sorry for. 

Brutus. You have done that you should be sorry for. 65 
There is no terror, C&ssius, in your threats, 
For I am arm'd so strong in honesty 
That they pass by me as the idle wind, 
Which I respect not. I did send to you 
For certain sums of gold, which you denied me : 70 

For I can raise no money by vile means. 

= heady; headstrong; fretful, peevish ? French tete, head; Lat. testa, 
skull. — 47. digest . . . spleen. Homer's x°*° v Karane^ai, cholon kata- 
pepsai, to digest bile? — Spleen apparently = fit of laughter in Troil. and 
Ores., I, iii, 178; fit of passion in 1 Henry IV, V, ii, 19. See Mid. ST. 
Dream, I, i, 147. — " Philautos went into the fields to walk there, either to 
digest his choler or chew upon his melancholy." Lyly's Eaphues. — 
48. split. Effect of poison? Troil. and Cres., I, iii, 178. — The bile is 
yellowish, greenish, bitter, nauseous, viscid; secreted by the liver; gall 
is bitter, alkaline, viscid, in the gall bladder beneath the liver, a mixture 
of the two secretions. — 49. laughter. I, ii, 68. —51. soldier. Tri- 
syl.? How in IV, i, 28? — 54. learn of = learn about? learn from? — 
noble. Collier changes this to abler, which Beeching adopts. "Brutus 
says 'noble,' because it is what he wishes Cassius to be." Wright.— 
65. have done. Which of these two words is emphatic? — 67. honesty, 
Lat. honestas, honor? — 69. 1 did send, etc. Now Brutus turns complain- 



SCENE III.] JULIUS CAESAR. 145 

By heaven ! I would rather coin my heart, 

And drop my blood for drachmas, than to wring 

From the hard hands of peasants their vile trash 

By any indirection. I did send 75 

To you for gold to pay my legions, 

Which you denied me. Was that done like Cassius ? 

Should I have answer' d Caius Cassius so ? 

When Marcus Brutus grows so covetous, 

To lock such rascal counters from his friends, 80 

Be ready, gods, with all your thunderbolts ; 

Dash him to pieces ! 

Cassius. I denied you not. 

Brutus. You did. 

Cassius. I did not : he was but a fool that brought 
My answer back. — Brutus hath riv'd my heart: 
A friend should bear his friend's infirmities, 85 

But Brutus makes mine greater than they are. 

Brutus. I do not, till you practice them on me. 

Cassius. You love me not. 

Brutus. I do not like your faults. 

Cassius. A friendly eye could never see such faults. 

Brutus. A flatterer's would not, though they do appear 90 
As huge as high Olympus. 

Cassius. Come, Antony, and young Octavius, come, 
Revenge yourselves alone on Cassius ! 
For Cassius is aweary of the world ; 

Hated by one he loves ; brav'd by his brother ; 95 

Check'd like a bondman ; all his faults observ'd, 
Set in a note-book, learn'd, and conn'd by rote — 

ant. — Note that though Brutus will not raise money by vile means, yet, 
when it is raised, he wants his share ! Was it fair to twit Cassius? Why 
did not Cassius retort? — 73. Ill, ii, 241. — 75. indirection = crooked- 
ness? Hamlet, II, i, 66. — 80. rascal. Literally 'scrapings,' fr. Fr. rascler, 
to scrape. Skeat. — counters = round worthless pieces used in keeping 
count? Winter's Tale, IV, iii, 38; Cymbel.,V. iv, 17-4. — 81. Omit pause 
after thunderbolts ? 

85. his friends. The folio has his, which Rolf e changes to a. Rightly? 
— 87. do not. What ? — 90. Olympus. In the N. E. of Thessaly, a vast 
group of lofty mountain ridges and peaks, called by Homer ' many-ridged 
Olympus,' fabled to be the seat of the gods, and often used for heaven. — 
93. Revenge = avenge ? Difference! — alone. Proper position of this 
word now? — 94. aweary. Macbeth, V, v, 49; Mer. of Ven., I, ii, 1; 
Abbott, 24. The prefix a has 13 values in English. Skeai. — 96. check'd. 
See 'hedge,' line 30. — 97. conn'd. A.S. cunnian, to test; cunnan, to 
know; to try to know. — rote. Lat. rupta, broken. Bote is route, a 
beaten path. Akin to rut and routine. By rote = along a beaten path, 



146 JULIUS CAESAR. [ACT IV. 

To cast into my teeth ! Oh, I could weep 

My spirit from mine eyes ! — There is my dagger, 

And here my naked breast ; within, a heart 100 

Dearer than Pluto's mine, richer than gold : 

If that thou be'st a Roman, take it forth ! 

I, that denied thee gold, will give my heart ! 

Strike, as thou didst at Caesar ; for, I know, 

When thou didst hate him worst, thou lov'dst him better 

Than ever thou lov'dst Cassius ! 

Brutus. Sheathe your dagger. 106 

Be angry when you will, it shall have scope ; 
Do what you will, dishonor shall be humor. 
Cassius ! you are yoked with a lamb, 
That carries anger as the flint bears fire ; 110 

Who, much enforced, shows a hasty spark, 
And straight is cold again. 

Cassius. Hath Cassius liv'd 

To be but mirth and laughter to his Brutus, 
When grief, and blood ill-temper'd, vexeth him ? 

Brutus. When I spoke that, I was ill-temper'd too. 115 

Cassius. Do you confess so much ? Give me your hand. 

Brutus. And my heart too. 

Cassius. Brutus ! 

Brutus. What's the matter ? 

Cassius. Have you not love enough to bear with me, 
When that rash humor which my mother gave me 
Makes me forgetful ? 

Brutus. Yes, Cassius ; and, from henceforth, 

When you are over-earnest with your Brutus, 121 

He'll think your mother chides, and leave you so. 

or by constant repetition. Skeat. — 98. cast, etc. Biblical? 3/a^.xxvii,44. 
— 101. Pluto's. So tbe folio. The editors generally change to Plutus'. 
But Pluto was the giver of wealth, and of the metals within the earth. 
"Let none admire that riches grow in hell," says Milton. — Troil. and 
Ores., Ill, iii, 197; Tim. of Ath., I, i, 287. — 102. that. Superfluous? 
Abbott, 287. — beest. See II, iii, 6. So Milton, Par. Lost; Abbott, 298. 
— Roman, Supposed to be the soul of honor/ — 107. scope. Gr. <jkow6<;, 
scopus, a mark to shoot at. A space surveyed, space for action. Skeat. 
Free play, free range? — Lear, I, iv, 314. — i09. dishonor = dishonorable 
conduct? disgrace? — humor = effect of whim or caprice? — Metonymy? 
— 109. lamb. Pope substituted 'man'! — Who or what is the 'lamb'? 
— 110. flint, etc. See I, ii, 172, 173. Belief as to the fire of the spark 
when the flint struck the steel? — 111. •who. Shakespeare's use of ivho 
and ivhich is very free. — Abbott, 264. — 113. mirth and laughter. 
These words in line 49 stung Cassius to the quick. — I, ii, 68. — 114. ill- 
temper'd. See on line 39; also V, v, 73, 74. — 117. O Brutus! He is 



SCENE III.] JULIUS CAESAR. 147 

Poet. \_Within\ Let me go in and see the generals; 

There is some grudge between 'em ; 'tis not meet 

They be alone. 

Lucilius. [Within] You shall not come to them. 125 

Poet. [ Within'] Nothing but death shall stay me. 

Enter a Poet. 

Cassius. How now ! What's the matter ? 

Poet. For shame, you generals ! What do you mean ? 
Love, and be friends, as two such men should be ; 
For I have seen more years, I'm sure, than ye. 130 

Cassius. Ha, ha ! how vilely does this cynic rhyme ! 

Brutus. Get you hence, sirrah ! saucy fellow, hence ! 

Cassius. Bear with him, Brutus ; 'tis his fashion. 

Brutus. I'll know his humor, when he knows his time. 
What should the wars do with these jigging fools ? 135 

Companion, hence ! 

Cassius. Away, away ! be gone ! [Exit Poet. 

Brutus. Lucilius and Titinius, bid the commanders 
Prepare to lodge their companies to-night. 

Cassius. And come yourselves, and bring Messala with 
you 
Immediately to us. [Exeunt Lucilius and Titinius. 

Brutus. Lucius, a bowl of wine. 140 

Cassius. I did not think you could have been so angry. 

overcome by his emotion? Brutus is or pretends to be cooler? — 123. 
Poet. A senator and a poet. Plutarch calls him Phaonius (or Favonius), 
and says he " valued himself less on his dignity as a senator than on a 
kind of cynical freedom in saying everything he pleased ; nor was this 
uneutertaiuing to those who could bear with his impertinence." Plutarch 
makes him quote from Homer's Iliad. 1 Cassius laughs at him. But 
Brutus is impatient. — 131. cynic. Gr. kwlkos, cunicus, Lat. cynicus, dog- 
like. The sect of Cynic philosophers was founded by Antisthenes, a dis- 
ciple of Socrates, at whose death Antisthenes was present. The name is 
often said to be derived from their ' dog-like neglect of all forms and 
usages of society'; but others derive it from his teaching at Cynosarges, 
a gymnasium for foreigners, a little to the east of Athens. — 132. Saucy. 
I, i, 19. — 133. fashion. Scan ! — 131. humor, See on 39, 119. — Force of 
knoiof — 135. jigging. Old French gige, gigue, a stringed instrument 
like a fiddle. A jig was a lively tune or dance. Skeat. Also a ballad, 
or a comic entertainment. — 136. Companion = fellow ? — Lat. com, 
together; panis, bread. 'Companions' were those who took meals 
together. "Familiarity breeds contempt!" — 141. so angry. This 

1 'AAXd 7ri6e<r8', dfH(f)io Se cecorepu icrrbv t/ueto. 
But be persuaded ; you are both younger than I. 



148 JULIUS CAESAR. [ACT IV. 

Brutus. Cassius ! I am sick of many griefs. 
y Cassius. Of your philosophy you make no use, 
(if you give place to accidental evils. 
"~ Brutus. No man bears sorrow better. Portia is dead. 

Cassius. Ha ! Portia ? 14<; 

Brutus. She is dead. 

Cassius. How scap'd I killing when I cross'd you so ? 

insupportable and touching loss ! — 
Upon what sickness ? 

Brutus. Impatient of my absence, 150 

And grief that young Octavius with Mark Antony 
Have made themselves so strong : — for with her death 
That tidings came ; — with this she fell distract, 
And, her attendants absent, swallovv'd fire. 

Cassius. And died so ? 

Brutus. Even so. 

Cassius. ye immortal gods ! 155 

Enter Boy with wine and tapers. 

Brutus. Speak no more of her. — Give me a bowl of 
wine. — 
In this I bury all unkindness, Cassius. [Drinks. 

Cassius. My heart is thirsty for that noble pledge. 
Fill, Lucius, till the wine o'erswell the cup ; 

1 cannot drink too much of Brutus' love. 160 
Brutus. Come in, Titinius ! 

proves that Brutus had shown great anger ? — 142. of = of having ? 
because of? — 144. place = way? room? — 145. Portia is dead. "Shake- 
speare seized upon this incident to bring out Brutus' power of self-con- 
trol." Wright. — 148. scap'd. Shakes, uses scape oftener than escape. — 
150. Upon = by, because of ? Bacon repeatedly uses upon for ' in conse- 
quence of.' So Coriol., II, i, 244; Much Ado, IV, i, 225; Abbott, 191.— 
impatient . . . grief. Strong emotion cares little for correct syntax! 

— Make the words consistent. So have in line 152. This mixture of con- 
structions, this carelessness of concord, are real merits in that they bring 
out more forcibly the deep feeling? — 153. tidings. Like 'news,' singu- 
lar or plural? See V, i i i , 54 ; As Yon Like It, V, iv, 591 ; Richard II, II, i, 
172. — distract. A strong word! As if the mind were drawn asunder. 

— Note that Shakes, avoids -ed after the t sound. — 154. swallow'd fire. 
"Took hot burning coals and cast them into her mouth, and kept her 
mouth so close that she choked herself." Plutarch. — absent. Abbott, 
380. — 155. Enter Boy, etc. So the folio. 



SCENE III.] JULIUS CAESAR. 149 



Enter Titinius and Messala. 

Welcome, good Messala ! 
Now sit we close about this taper here, 
And call in question our necessities. 

Cassius. Portia, art thou gone ? 

Brutus. No more, I pray you. — 

Messala, I have here received letters, 165 

That young Octavius and Mark Antony 
Come down upon us with a mighty power, 
Bending their expedition toward Philippi. 

Messala. Myself have letters of the selfsame tenor. 

Brutus. With what addition '? 170 

Messala. That by proscription and bills of outlawry, 
Octavius, Antony, and Lepidus, 
Have put to death an hundred senators. 

Brutus. Therein our letters do not well agree : 
Mine speak of seventy senators that died 175 

By their proscriptions, Cicero being one. 

Cassius. Cicero one ? 

Messala. Cicero is dead, 

And by that order of proscription. — 
Had you your letters from your wife, my lord ? 

Brutus. No, Messala. 180 

Messala. Nor nothing in your letters writ of her? 

Brutus. Nothing, Messala. 

Messala. That, methinks, is strange. 

Brutus. Why ask you? hear you aught of her in yours? 

162. sit we. First pers. plur. impera.? — 163. call in question = 

consider? investigate? discuss? Hamlet, IV, v, 197. — 167. power = 
force? army? — 168. expedition = march ? — bending. See I, ii, 119. 
— Philippi. Founded by Philip of Macedon about 358 b.c. on a steep 
height of Mt. Pangreus ; the first place in Europe to hear the Gospel. 
Paul preached here about a.d. 53, and to the church at Philippi he 
wrote his eloquent epistle about ten years later. What of Paul and 
Silas there? — 171. proscription. This triumvirate was proclaimed, 
says Merivale, Nov. 27, B.C. 43. The next night the names of 130 
senators and knights were put on the black list. Soon afterwards 150 
more were placarded. Offers of money for the killing were made, and 
freedom was promised to slaves who should bring in the heads. But 
there were 17 previously doomed, Cicero among them. — 178. Cicero is 
dead. Dec. 7, 43 B.C. Antony especially hated him for his terrible philip- 
pics. Plutarch says that Octavius for two days contended to save him, 
but on the third he gave him up. By Antony's command, Cicero's hands 
were cut off, and with the head were fastened up over the rostra in the 
forum. — 181. Nor nothing. For the frequent double negative, see I, ii, 



150 JULIUS CAESAR. [ACT IV. 

Messala. No, rny lord. 

Brutus. Now, as you are a Roman, tell me true. 185 

Messala. Then, like a Roman, bear the truth I tell : 
For certain she is dead, and by strange manner. 

Brutus. Why, farewell, Portia ! We must die, Messala : 
With meditating that she must die once, 
I have the patience to endure it now. 190 

Messala. Even so great men great losses should endure. 

Cassius. I have as much of this in art as you, 
But yet my nature could not bear it so. 

Brutus. Well, to our work alive. What do you think 
Of marching to Philippi presently? 195 

Cassius. I do not think it good. 

Brutus. Your reason? 

Cassius. This it is : 

'Tis better that the enemy seek us : 
So shall he waste his means, weary his soldiers, 
Doing himself offense ; whilst we, lying still, 
Are full of rest, defense, and nimbleness. 200 

Brutus. Good reasons must, of force, give place to better. 
The people 'twixt Philippi and this ground 
Do stand but in a forc'd affection ; 
For they have grudg'd us contribution : 
The enemy, marching along by them, 205 

By them shall make a fuller number up, 
Come on ref resh'd, new-added, and encourag'd ; 
From which advantage shall we cut him off, 
If at Philippi we do face him there, 
These people at our back. 

Cassius. Hear me, good brother. 210 

232; III, i, 92, 155. —writ. Shakes, uses also 'written' and 'wrote' as 
participles. — 188. For certain = because certainly? for a certainty? — 
188. why = well. Expresses acquiescence? — 189. With. Abbott, 193. 
— once = at some time. Merry Wives, III, iv, 103. — Why does Brutus 
appear so calm? effect on Messala ? — 192. I have as much of this in 
art = I have as much of this in theory [Malone and Hudson] ?— In art 
= by acquired knowledge or learning [Graik]? — Cassius says he was [sic] 
a Stoic by profession like Brutus, but his art had not become a second 
nature [Wright]? — I could put on an appearance of coolness, but not 
hear up so well [Beeching] ? — 194. alive = of us alive ? that has to do 
with the living? — 195. Philippi. How foresee Philippi? — presently 
= immediately? — 199. offense. Fr. offendre, to hurt. — 201. of force = 
what? — 201. reasons. Brutus prides himself on his reasoning? Ill, i, 
238. — 207. new-added. Hudson changes to ne w -aided ; Craik to new- 
hearted. We follow the folio. —209, 210. face in antithesis with back ? 



SCENE III.] JULIUS CAESAR. 151 

Brutus. Under your pardon. — You must note beside, 
That we have tried the utmost of our friends, 
Our legions are brim-full, our cause is ripe : 
The enemy increaseth every day ; 

AVe, at the height, are ready to decline. 215 

There is a tide in the affairs of men, 
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune ; 
Omitted, all the voyage of their life 
Is bound in shallows and in miseries. 

On such a full sea are we now afloat ; 220 

And we must take the current when it serves, 
Or lose our ventures. 

Cassius. Then, with your will, go on ; 

We'll along ourselves, and meet them at Philippi. 

Brutus. The deep of night is crept upon our talk, 
And nature must obey necessity ; 225 

Which we will niggard with a little rest. 
There is no more to say ? 

Cassius. No more. Good night ! 

Early to-morrow will we rise, and hence. 

Brutus. Lucius ! {Enter Lucius.] My gown. — 
Farewell, good Messala. 

Good night, Titinius. — Noble, noble Cassius, 230 

Good night, and good repose ! 

Cassius. my dear brother ! 

This was an ill beginning of the night : 
Never come such division 'tween our souls ! 
Let it not, Brutus. 

Brutus. Everything is well. 

Cassius. Good night, my lord. 

Brutus. Good night, good brother. 235 

Titinius, Messala. Good night, Lord Brutus. 

Brutus. Farewell, every one. 

{Exeunt all but Brutus. 

— 211. Ill, i, 236.— 216, 217. There is a tide, etc. Few lines are ofteuer 
quoted than these. — 218. omitted. What? — 222. ventures. In Mer. of 
Ven. ' ventures ' repeatedly means cargoes risked in ships. — go on. Again 
Cassius yields. II, i, 156, 157, 184; III, i, 234, 244; V, i, 47.-223. our- 
selves = I and my army ? — 226. niggard = he stingy to, stint, put off with 
short allowance. Icel., hnoggr, stingy. The form of the root is knu 
(Teutonic hnu), preserved in Gr. xvvew, knuein, to scratch ! A niggard 
originally is 'one who scrapes.' Skeat. — Sonnet i, 12. Abbott, 290. — 
227. There is no more to say. This proverbial expression is frequent 
in Chaucer. — 229. gown, II, ii, 1. 



152 JULIUS CAESAR. [ACT IV. 



Reenter Lucius ivith the gown. 

Give me the gown. — Where is thy instrument? 

Lucius. Here in the tent. 

Brutus. What ! thou speak'st drowsily ? 

Poor knave ! I blame thee not ; thou art o'er-watch'd. 
Call Claudio and some other of my men : 240 

I'll have them sleep on cushions in my tent. 

Lucius. Varrus and Claudio ! 

Enter Varro and Claudius. 

Var. Calls my lord ? 

Brutus. I pray you, sirs, lie in my tent and sleep ; 
It may be I shall raise you by and by 245 

On business to my brother Cassius. 

Var. So please you, we will stand and watch your plea- 
sure. 

Brutus. I will not have it so. Lie down, good sirs ! 
It may be I shall otherwise bethink me. — 
Look, Lucius, here's the book I sought for so ! 250 

I put it in the pocket of my gown. 

Lucius. I was sure your lordship did not give it me. 

Brutus. Bear with me, good boy, I am much forgetful. 
Canst thou hold up thy heavy eyes a while, 
And touch thy instrument a strain or two ? 255 

Lucius. Ay, my lord, an't please you. 

Brutus. It does, my boy : 

I trouble thee too much, but thou art willing. 

Lucius. It is my duty, sir. 

Brutus. I should not urge thy duty past thy might ; 
I know young bloods look for a time of rest. 2<;o 

Lucius. I have slept, my lord, already. 

238. drowsily. He is a good sleeper ! II, i, 4. — 239. knave = boy? 
rogue? Used like 'wretch' in friendly familiarity? — o'er-watch'd = 
exhausted by keeping awake? Lear, II, ii, 177 ; Mid. N. Dream, V, i, 373; 
Par. Lost, 11,289. — 240. other. Plural.— 245. raise = rouse ? — 250. book. 
Plutarch tells us Brutus spent the day before the battle of Pharsalia writing 
an epitome of Polybius. — " Brutus was an earnest student through all his 
active life, and is said to have been employed in his tent on the night be- 
fore the battle of Pharsalia in making an abridgment of Pausanias." 
Encyclopedia Britannica. — 253. much. Used now with adjectives ? par- 
ticiples? — 256. an't = if it? See note in our ed. Mer. of Ven., II, ii, 51.— 
260. bloods. I, ii, 147; Much Ado, III, iii, 141. 



SCENE III.] JULIUS CMSAR. 153 

Brutus. It was well clone ; and thou shalt sleep again ; 
I will not hold thee long : if I do live, 

I will be good to thee. — [Music, and a song. 

This a sleepy tune. murcl'rous slumber ! 265 

Lay'st thou thy leaden rnace upon my boy, 
That plays thee musio ? — Gentle knave, good night ! 
I will not do thee so much wrong to wake thee. 
If thou dost nod, thou break'st thy instrument ; 
I'll take it from thee ; and, good boy, good night ! — 270 
Let me see, let me see ; is not the leaf turn'd down 
Where I left reading ? Here it is, I think. 

Enter the Ghost of CLesak. 

How ill this taper burns ! Ha ! who comes here ? 

I think it is the weakness of mine eyes 

That shapes this monstrous apparition. 275 

It comes upon me. — Art thou anything ? 

Art thou some god, some angel, or some devil, 

That mak'st my blood cold and my hair to stare ? 

Speak to me what thou art ! 

Ghost. Thy evil spirit, Brutus. 

Brutus. Why com'st thou ? 280 

Ghost. To tell thee thou shalt see me at Philippi. 

Brutus. Well ; then I shall see thee again ? 

Ghost. Ay, at Philippi. 

Brutus. Why, I will see thee at Philippi, then. 

[Exit Ghost. 
Now I have taken heart, thou vanishest. 285 

265. murderous. Sleep produces death's likeness. — 266. leaden 
mace. Leaden by analogy of dull and heavy? — Lat. mateola, a beetle, 
mallet; O. Fr. mace, a kind of club ; ensign of authority ; sceptre. Spenser 
(in Faerie Queen, I, iv, 44) has " Morpheus had with leaden mace arrested 
all." — Com. ofEr., IV, iii, 28; HenryV, IV, i,278. — 268. Ellipsis? Abbott, 
281. So in line 80. — 272. reading. " Whilst he was in war ... if he had 
any leisure left him, he would read some book till the third watch of the 
night." — Enter the Ghost of Caesar. Plutarch does not so term the 
spectre, but merely calls it ' a wonderful, strange, and monstrous shape 
of a body coming towards him ' ; ' a horrible vision of a man of wonderful 
greatness and dreadful look.' — 273. ill this taper burns. Supposed 
effect of the ghost's presence? Plutarch states the fact that the light 
'waxed very dim.' — Richard III, V, iii, 181. — 278. blood cold, etc. 
Basis of this belief ? — stare = to stand on end? — Root sta, to stand, 
be firm; stare, to be stiff. Skeat. Tempest, I, ii, 213. — 285. Now . . . 
thou vanishest. Does this prove that the ghost is subjective ? 



154 JULIUS CAESAR. [ACT IV. 

Ill spirit, I would hold more talk with thee. — 
Boy, Lucius ! Varrus ! Claudio ! Sirs, awake ! 
Claudio ! 

Lucius. The strings, my lord, are false. 

Brutus. He thinks he still is at his instrument. — 
Lucius, awake ! • 290 

Lucius. My lord ? 

Brutus. Didst thou dream, Lucius, that thou so criedst 
out? 

Lucius. My lord, I do not know that I did cry. 

Brutus. Yes, that thou didst : didst thou see anything ? 

Lucius. Nothing, my lord. 295 

Brutus. Sleep again, Lucius. Sirrah, Claudio ! 
Fellow thou, awake ! 

Var. My lord ! 

Claud. My lord ! 

Brutus. Why did you so cry out, sirs, in your sleep ? 300 

Var., Claud. Did we, my lord ? 

Brutus. Ay : saw you anything ? 

Var. No, my lord, I saw nothing. 

Claud. Nor I, my lord. 

Brutus. Go and commend me to my brother Cassius ; 
Bid him set on his powers betimes before, 
And we will follow. 305 

Both. It shall be done, my lord. [Exeunt. 

292. Ellipsis of so? — 303. commend = give my compliments to? — 
304. set on his powers. I, ii, 11; IV, i, 42. — Comment on the natural- 
ness of this scene; its fidelity to history; its revelation or portrayal of 
character ; its advancement of the plot. Does the legend of the ghost show 
that Brutus was stung by remorse? that he was haunted by the presenti- 
ment of retribution? 



SCENE I.] JULIUS CAESAR. 155 



ACT V. 

Scene I. The Plains of Philippi. 
Enter Octavius, Antony, and their Army. 

Octavius. Now, Antony, our hopes are answered : 
You said the enemy would not come down, 
But keep the hills and upper regions. 
It proves not so : their battles are at hand ; 
They mean to warn us at Philippi here, 5 

Answering before we do demand of them. 

Antony. Tut ! I am in their bosoms, and I know 
TV heref ore they do it : they could be content 
To visit other places ; and come down 

With fearful bravery, thinking by this face 10 

To fasten in our thoughts that they have courage ; 
But 'tis not so. 

Enter a Messenger. 

Messenger. Prepare you, generals : 

The enemy comes on in gallant show ; 
Their bloody sign of battle is hung out, 
And something to be done immediately. 15 

Act V, Scene I. 1. answered = realized ? responded to? confronted? 

— 4. battles = armies ? battalions? forces? — Old Fr. bataille, from Low 
Lat. batalia, a fight. — Henry V, IV, chor. 9. Bacon's 58th Essay. — 
5. warn = summon ? challenge? — 7. tut! Impatience mingled with 
contempt; like tush. The tip of the tongue, as it were, thrusts the idea 
away? See our ed. of Hamlet, I, i, 30. — 8. eould = would, content = 
glad ? — Corjol., I, i, 32. — 10. fearful = causing terror [Malone, Wright] ? 
feeling fear [Craik, Rolfe, Beeching]? Venus and Ad., 677; 3 Henry VI, 
II, v, 130; Judges, vii, 3; Matthew, viii, 26. — bravery = show of cour- 
age [Malone]? bravado? fearful bravery = terrible display [Wright]? — 
face = bold front [Wright]? — 14. bloody = prophetic of slaughter? red? 

— "The signal of battle was an arming scarlet coat." Plutarch. — 
Coriol., II. i, 84; Henry V, I, ii, 101. — "For bravery and rich furniture, 



156 JULIUS CAESAR. [ACT v. 

Antony. Octavius, lead your battle softly on, 
Upon the left hand of the even field. 

Octavius. Upon the right hand I ; keep thou the left. 
Antony. Why do you cross me in this exigent ? 19 

Octavius. I do not cross you ; but I will do so. [March. 

Drum. Enter Brutus, Cassius, and their Army. 

Brutus. They stand, and would have parley. 

Cassius. Stand fast, Titinius : we must out and talk. — 

Octavius. Mark Antony, shall we give sign of battle ? 

Antony. No, Caesar, we will answer on their charge. 
Make forth ; the generals would have some words. 25 

Octavius. Stir not until the signal. — 

Brutus. Words before blows : is it so, countrymen ? 

Octavius. Not that we love words better, as you do. 

Brutus. Good words are better than bad strokes, Octavius. 

Antony. In your bad strokes, Brutus, you give good 
words : 30 

Witness the hole you made in Caesar's heart, 
Crying " Long live ! Hail, Caesar ! " 

Cassius. Antony, 

The posture of your blows are yet unknown : 
But for your words, they rob the Hybla bees, 
And leave them honeyless. 

Antony. Not stingless too. 35 

Brutus. 0, yes, and soundless too ; 
For you have stol'n their buzzing, Antony, 
And very wisely threat before you sting. 

Brutus' army far excelled Cassius'." Plutarch. — 16. softly. Slowly. 
See "Soft, no baste !" Mer. of Ven., IV, i, 312; Genesis, xxxiii, 14. — 
17. even = level. — 18. thou, is there a slight assumption of superiority 
in this word here? — The right wing was the post of honor and responsi- 
bility? — 19. exigent = exigency ? emergency? Ant. and Uleop., IV, xiv, 
(i'3. — In 1 Henry VI, II, v, 9, it means end. — Lat. exigcre, to exact. — 
20. will do so. How ? When ? — Octavius and Cassius in the battle com- 
manded the left wings? — parley. See note on parte in our ed. of Hamlet, 
I, i, 62. — 24. answer = meet them in combat ? — charge = assault ? onset ? 
— Trail, and Ores., I, iii, 171; II nry V, II, iv, 5. — 25. inake = step? go? 
march? — generals. Who? — 28. love words better. A fling at 
Brutus' oratory? — 33. posture . . . are. Can 'posture' be a collective 
noun? — Is the verb 'attracted' to the plural by blows? — Abbott, 412. 
See " number . . . were " in Acts, i, 15; 2 Chronicles, xxvi, 12. — 34. Hybla. 
There were three Hyblas in Sicily, one on the south side of JDtna. — A 
recollection of Virgil's thymo mih-i duleior Hyblas, Eel., vii, 37, sweeter 
to me than thyme of Hybla? — 1 Henry IV, I, ii, 47. — Is there here a 



SCENE I.] JULIUS CAESAR. 157 

Antony. Villains ! you did not so, when your vile daggers 
Hack'd one another in the sides of Caesar ! 40 

You show'd your teeth like apes, and fawn'd like hounds, 
And bow'd like bondmen, kissing Caesar's feet ; 
Whilst damned Casca, like a cur, behind 
Struck Caesar on the neck ! you flatterers ! 

Cassius. Flatterers! — Now, Brutus, thank yourself ! 45 
This tongue had not offended so to-day, 
If Cassius might have rul'd. 

Octavius. Come, come, the cause ! If arguing make us 
sweat, 
The proof of it will turn to redder drops. 
Look ! 

I draw a sword against conspirators ; 50 

When think you that the sword goes up again ? 
Never, till Caesar's three and thirty wounds 
Be well aveng'd ; or till another Caesar 
Have added slaughter to the sword of traitors ! 

Brutus. Caesar, thou canst not die by traitors' hands, 55 
Unless thou bring'st them with thee. 

Octavius. So I hope : 

I was not born to die on Brutus' sword. 

Brutus. 0, if thou wert the noblest of thy strain, 
Young man, thou couldst not die more honorable ! 

Cassms. A peevish schoolboy, worthless of such honor, 60 
Join'd with a masker and a reveller ! 

recollection of Homer's trrea nTepoevra, winged words? — 40. hacked, etc. 
" So many swords and daggers lighting upon one body, one of them hurt 
another." Plutarch. — 41. fawned, etc. So Plutarch. See III, i, 36, 
43, etc. — 44. For the metre, see Abbott, 482. — 45. thank yourself. 
Why? — 47. rul'd. When?— II, i, 156; III, i, 233-236; IV, iii, 195, 196, 
210. — 48. cause. Important business? — arguing. Does this word 
suggest ' proof ' ? — 49. proof. In what sense is actual fighting ' proof ' ? 
See Macbeth, V, vii, 11; Lear, V, iii, 140. — drops. Suggested by 
'sweat'? —51. up. Position of scabbard? — John, xviii, 11. — 52. thirty. 
Theobald changed this to twenty. Would Octavius exaggerate? — 
another Caesar. Octavius had immediately alter the death of Julius 
assumed the name Cains Julius Caesar Octavianus. — 54. added. How? 
See next line. — King John, II, i, 343. 

58. strain l = race ? stock? lineage? — Henry V, II, iv, 51; Much Ado, 
II, i, 394; Pericles, IV, iii, 24; Faerie Queene, IV, viii, 33. — 59. honor- 
able Adj. or adv.? Abbott, 1. — Brutus again reminds us of his own 
ruling passion? — 60. peevish. " Probably of onomatopoetic origin, from 
the noise made by fretful children. Skeat. — Constantly used by Shakes, 
in the sense of ' childish, foolish, wayward.' Wright. — 61. reveller, etc. 

1 Bountee cometh all of God, not of the strain 
Of which we been ygendered and ybore. — Chaucer. 



158 JULIUS CAESAR. [ACT V. 

Antony. Old Cassius still ! 

Octavius. Come, Antony, away ! 

Defiance, traitors, hurl we in your teeth ! 
If you dare fight to-day, come to the field ; 
If not, when you have stomachs. 65 

[Exeunt Octavius, Antony, and their Army. 

Cassius. Why, now, blow wind, swell billow, and swim 
bark ! 
The storm is up, and all is on the hazard. 

Brutus. Ho, Lucilius ! hark, a word with you ! 

Lucilius. [Lucjlius and Messala stand forth'] My lord ! 
[Brutus and Lucilius converse apart. 

Cassius. Messala ! 

Messala. What says my general ? 

Cassius. Messala, 
This is my birthday ; as this very day 70 

Was Cassius born. Give me thy hand, Messala : 
Be thou my witness that against my will, 
As Pompey was, am I compell'd to set 
Upon one battle all our liberties. 

You know that I held Epicurus strong 75 

And his opinion : now I change my mind, 
And partly credit things that do presage. 
Coming from Sardis, on our former ensign 
Two mighty eagles fell, and there they perch'd, 
Gorging and feeding from our soldiers' hands ; 80 

Who to Philippi here consorted us : 
This morning are they fled away and gone ; 
And in their steads do ravens, crows and kites, 

II, iii, 116. — 62. Old Cassius still! Spoken with admiration? — 
65. stomachs. Gr. aronaxos. opening, gullet, stomach, appetite. Here 
appetite for fighting? courage? Henri/ V, IV, iii, 35; III, vii, 166. — 
68. 3Iylord! Surprise? — 70. as. Redundant? Beeching says not ; but 
that it means ' this day, but not this year.' — 73. Pompey. See Plutarch's 
account in Life of Pompey. — 75. held . . . strong = believed ... to be 
strong (because of the soundness of his views) ? held to . . . strongly 
[Wright, etc.] ? Epicurus (of Samos, b.c. 340-270) argued that "if there 
were gods, they must be happy, and necessarily unconcerned with human 
affairs, so that portents and omens would be impossible." — 77. presage 
= foreshow the future [Wright] ? — Rom. and Jul., V, i, 2. — In all this 
passage Shakes, closely follows Plutarch. — 78. former = foremost? — 
ensign = banner? standard? — 81. who. See I, iii, 21. — consorted = 
accompanied? Lat. con, with; sors, sortis, lot, condition, state. A con- 
sort is one who shares with others. — Shakes, has it with or without ivith. 
— Com. of Er., I, ii, 28; Rom. and Jul., Ill, i, 48.-83. steads. On the 



SCENE I.] JULIUS CAESAR. 159 

Fly o'er our heads and downward look on us, 

As we were sickly prey. Their shadows seem 85 

A canopy most fatal, under which 

Our army lies, ready to give up the ghost. 

Messala. Believe not so. 

Casshts. I but believe it partly ; 

For I am fresh of spirit and resolv'd 
To meet all perils very constantly. — 90 

Brutus. Even so, Lucilius. 

Cassius. Now, most noble Brutus, 

The gods to-day stand friendly, that we may, 
Lovers in peace, lead on our days to age ! 
But since the affairs of men rests still incertain, 
Let's reason with the worst that may befall. 95 

If we do lose this battle, then is this 
The very last time we shall speak together : 
What are you then determined to do ? 

Brutus. Even by the rule of that philosophy 
By which I did blame Cato for the death 100 

Which he did give himself — I know not how — 

use of plural for singular, see on 'loves ' in our ed. of Hamlet, I, i, 173. — 
Tim. of Ath., IV, i, 6; Richard II, IV, i, 314.— 85. Ellipsis? — Ill, i, 99; 
Abbott, 107. — 86. canopy. Gr. kuivutthuv, conopeon, an Egyptian bed with 
mosquito curtains ; fr. kuivoj^, conops, a gnat, mosquito, tikeat. — 90. See 
III, i, 23, 60, 72, 73.-93. lovers. II, iii, 7; III, ii, 13; Mer. of Yen,, III, 
iv, 7. — 94. rests. So the folio. Perhaps an old North of Eng. plural? 
perhaps affairs is regarded as singular? perhaps s is a misprint? — in- 
certain. See on ' uncapable,' Mer. of Ven., our ed., IV, i, 5 ; Abbott, 442. 
North's Plutarch, which Shakes, certainly drew from, has uncertain, and 
in the same sentence, " What art thou then determined to do ? " — 95. rea- 
son with = talk over, discuss? — See Mer. of Ven., I, ii, 19; II, viii, 27, 
our ed. — 100. Cato. Uticensis. B.C. 95-46. Great-grandson of Cato the 
Censor. He was a Stoic, an orator, an aristocrat, a man of the most rigid 
morality, a vehement opponent of Caesar. See Addison's Cato. — 101. I 
know not how. The folio puts a comma before I, and a colon after how. 
The meaning may be, "I know not how Cato could consistently do it," or 
better, " I know not how I shall abide by the rules of that philosophy, but 
yet I find it cowardly and vile to commit suicide," and later he adds, " Do 
not suppose, however, that I shall go bound as a prisoner to Rome ! " His 
head is not very clear. Most editors, however, put a period before I, and 
a comma after how f But could Brutus say he knew not how he found it 
cowardly to prevent (i.e. anticipate) the time of life (i.e. the state or cir- 
cumstances that might arise in his life) ? Suppose the emphasis falls on 
I, and we interpret thus : I know not how it was with Cato ; but I do find 
it cowardly, for fear of what may happen, to anticipate in such a way the 
future; and accordingly, I fortify my soul with patience to await the 
events foreordained by the gods that rule us. — The apparent inconsis- 
tency between these lines and lines 109-111, in which he is generally sup- 
posed to look forward to suicide, may be obviated by interpreting the 



160 JULIUS CAESAR. [ACT V. 

But I do find it cowardly and vile, 

For fear of what might fall, so to prevent 

The time of life, arming myself with patience, 

To stay the providence of some high powers 105 

That govern us below. 

Cassius. Then, if we lose this battle, 

You are contented to be led in triumph 
Thorough the streets of Eome ? 

Brutus. No, Cassius, no : think not, thou noble Roman, 
That ever Brutus will go bound to Borne ; no 

He bears too great a mind. But this same day 
Must end that work the Ides of March begun ; 
And whether we shall meet again, I know not. 
Therefore our everlasting farewell take : 
For ever, and for ever, farewell, Cassius ! 115 

If we do meet again, why, we shall smile ; 
If not, why then this parting was well made. 

Cassius. For ever, and for ever, farewell, Brutus ! 
If we do meet again, we'll smile indeed ; 
If not, 'tis true this parting was well made. 120 

Brutus. Why, then, lead on. Oh, that a man might know 
The end of this day's business ere it come ! 
But it sufficeth that the day will end, 
And then the end is known. — Come, ho ! away ! [Exeunt. 

latter to contemplate death in battle. Plutarch says, "Brutus, knowing 
that he should die, did put himself to all hazard in battle, but yet righting 
could not be slain." — It is noticeable that the original phraseology in 
Plutarch makes the words, I know not how 1 apply to trusting a rule of 
the Stoic philosophy. It reads, " Being yet a young man, and not over 
greatly experienced in the world, I trust (i.e. trusted), I know not how, 
a certain rule of Philosophy," etc. Shakes, transfers the phrase and 
applies it differently? — 105. stay = await? abide by? — 1 Henry IV, I, 
iii, 258. — 108. thorough. Ill, i, 137; Mer. of Ven., II, vii, 42; IV, i, 
164. — 110. Craik thinks there is no inconsistency here, even if suicide be 
intended. He says " Cato slew himself that he might not witness and 
outlive the fall of Utica. This was merely 'for fear of what might fall,' 
to anticipate the end of life. It did not follow that it would be wrong, in 
the opinion of Brutus, to commit suicide in order to escape any certain 
and otherwise inevitable calamity or degradation." — 112. Plutarch makes 
Brutus say, " On the ides of March I devoted my life to my country." — 
Progress in this scene? Characters revealed ? 

1 Plutarch's words are ovk olS' Sn-ws ev <£(.Ao<ro<fu'a koyov a^rjica /xeyav. Amyot 
translated it thus : ie feis, ne sQay comment, un discours de philosophie ; North, I 
trust (I know not how), etc. 



SCENE ill.] JULIUS CAESAR. 161 

Scene II. The Same. The Field of Battle. 

Alarum. Enter Brutus and Messala. 

Brutus. Ride, ride, Messala, ride, and give these bills 
Unto the legions on the other side ! [Loud alarum. 

Let them set on at once ; for I perceive 
But cold demeanor in Octavius' wing, 

And sudden push gives them the overthrow. 5 

Ride, ride, Messala ! Let them all come down. [Exeunt. 

Scene III. Another Part of the Field. 
Alarums. Enter Cassius and Titinius. 

Cassius. 0, look, Titinius, look ! the villains fly ! 
Myself have to mine own turn'd enemy : 
This ensign here of mine was turning back ; 
I slew the coward, and did take it from him. 

Titinius. Cassius ! Brutus gave the word too early ; 5 
Who, having some advantage on Octavius, 
Took it too eagerly : his soldiers fell to spoil, 
Whilst we by Antony are all inclos'd. 

Enter Pindarus. 

Pindarus. Fly further off, my lord, fly further off ! 
Mark Antony is in your tents, my lord : 10 

Fly, therefore, noble Cassius, fly far off ! 

Scene II. The field of battle. Brutus and Cassius were encamped 
on two eminences, about 12 miles east of Philippi. — The sea is in the rear 
of Brutus and Cassius? — 1. bills = written orders? — 2. other side. 
Cassius yielded to Brutus the command of the right wing, according to 
Plutarch. Beeching insists that Brutus held the left. — 3. set on = attack ? 
advance?— (5. come down. From the hills? — Value of this scene? 

Scene III. 1. villains. Explain the change of meaning by which 
the once innocent vilain (Low Lat. villanus, from Lat. villa, a farmhouse, 
or small village) successively became, as in Cotgrcive (Fr. and Eng. Diet., 
1660), churle, boore, clown, knave, rascal, varlet, filthie fellow ! — ensign. 
Lat. insigne, a standard; signum, a mark, token. It perhaps here in- 
cludes both standard and standard-bearer. — 7. took it = followed up the 
advantage? — fell to spoil. "As Prince Rupert's troopers at Naseby, 
where Cromwell was the Antony of the day." Wright. — 11. far = far- 
ther? to a great distance? Generally supposed to have the force of a 



162 JULIUS CAESAR. [ACT V. 

Cassius. This hill is far enough. Look, look, Titinius ! 
Are those my tents where I perceive the fire ? 

Titinius. They are, my lord. 

Cassius. Titinius, if thou lov'st me, 

Mount thou my horse, and hide thy spurs in him, 15 

Till he have brought thee up to yonder troops 
And here again ; that I may rest assur'd 
Whether yond troops are friend or enemy. 

Titinius. I will be here again even with a thought. [Exit. 

Cassius. Go, Pindarus, get higher on that hill ; 20 

My sight was ever thick ; regard Titinius, 
And tell me what thou not'st about the field. 

[Pindarus ascends. 
This day I breathed first : time is come round, 
And where I did begin, there shall I end ; 
My life is run his compass. Sirrah, what news ? 25 

Pindarus. [Above'] my lord ! 

Cassius. What news? 

Pindarus. [Above'] Titinius is inclosed round about 
With horsemen, that make to him on the spur ; 
Yet he spurs on. Now they are almost on him. 30 

Now, Titinius ! Now some light. 0, he lights too ! 
He's ta'en ! [Shout.] And, hark ! they shout for joy. 

Cassius. Come down, behold no more. 
O, coward that I am, to live so long, 

To see my best friend ta'en before my face ! 35 

[Pindarus descends. 
Come hither, sirrah: 
In Parthia did I take thee prisoner ; 
And then I swore thee, saving of thy life, 
That whatsoever I did bid thee do, 
Thou shouldst attempt it. Come now, keep thine oath; 40 

comparative here. See III, ii, 165; Winter's Tale, IV, iv, 442. — 16. yon- 
der troops. Messala and his escort ? Plutarch calls them ' a great troop 
of horsemen whom Brutus sent to aid him.' — 18. yond. See note on I, 
ii, 190. — 19. with a thought = quick as thought ? Tempest, IV, i, 164. 
— 20. higher. Already on high ground. — 21. thick. 2 Henry IF, III, 
ii, 336. — regard. Fr. regarder, to look, eye, see, view, observe. 

25. compass. Lat. com, together; passus, a step, pace; passage, way, 
route. Whence compassus, a route that comes together or joins itself, 
a circuit. Lear, V, iii,- 174. — What of coincidences of birthday and 
death-day? — 32. light = alight, dismount ? So Genesis, xxiv, 64; 2 Kings, 
v, 21. — 37. Parthia. S.E. of the Caspian. The Parthians defeated and 
slew Crassus, the triumvir, B.C. 53. — 38, 39, 40. Here we have an illustra- 



SCENE III.] JULIUS CJESAR. 163 

Now be a freeman : and with this good sword, 
That ran through Caesar's bowels, search this bosom. 
Stand not to answer : here, take thou the hilts ; 
And, when my face is cover'd, as 'tis now, 
Guide thou the sword. — [Pindarus stabs him.'] Caesar, 
thou art reveng'd, 45 

Even with the sword that kill'd thee. [Dies. 

Pindarus. So, I am free ; yet would not so have been, 
Durst I have done my will. Cassius ! 
Far from this country Pindarus shall run, 49 

Where never Roman shall take note of him. [Exit. 

Enter Titinius with Messala. 

Messala. It is but change, Titinius ; for Octavius 
Is overthrown by noble Brutus' power, 
As Cassius' legions are by Antony. 

Titinius. These tidings will well comfort Cassius. 

Messala. Where did you leave him ? 

Titinius. All disconsolate, 55 

With Pindarus his bondman, on this hill. 

Messala. Is not that he that lies upon the ground ? 

Titinius. He lies not like the living. O my heart ! 

Messala. Is not that he ? 

Titinius. No, this was he, Messala, 

But Cassius is no more ! setting sun! 60 

As in thy red rays thou dost sink to night, 
So in his red blood Cassius' day is set ; 
The sun of Rome is set ! Our day is gone ; 
Clouds, dews, and dangers come ; our deeds are done ! 
Mistrust of my success hath done this deed. 65 

tion of the origin of Roman slavery. —saving of. Abbott, 178. — 41. 
sword. See III, ii, 172. — Plutarch tells us it was the same sword with 
which he struck Caesar. — 42. search = probe ? — As You Like It, II, iv, 
44. — 43. hilts. " Shakes, uses hilts six times, hilt thrice." Beeching. — 
51. change = interchange of victory and defeat [Hudson]? exchange? 

— 54. tidings. Singular or plural? like 'news'? — 59. was. So Ilium 
fuit, Troy was (but is no more) . — 60. setting sun. Time ? See line 109. 

— 61. to night or to-night? — A far nobler sense is given by taking 
'sink to night' to be an expression of the same kind as 'sink to rest.' — 
62. red blood. 1 — 65. success = result, issue ? — In Shakes, an issue, good 

1 " With disk like battle target red 
He rushes to his gory bed, 
Dyes the wide world with bloody light, 
Then sinks at once, and all is night." — Scott. 



164 JULIUS CAESAR. [ACT V. 

Messala. Mistrust of good success hath doue this deed. 
hateful error, melancholy's child ! 
Why dost thou show to the apt thoughts of men 
The things that are not ? Error, soon conceiv'd ! 
Thou never com'st unto a happy birth, 70 

But kill'st the mother that engender'd thee ! 

Titinius. What, Pindarus ! where art thou, Pindarus ? 

Messala. Seek him, Titinius, whilst 1 go to meet 
The noble Brutus, thrusting this report 
Into his ears. I may say, thrusting it ; 75 

For piercing steel and darts envenomed 
Shall be as welcome to the ears of Brutus 
As tidings of this sight. 

Titinius. Hie you, Messala, 

And I will seek for Pindarus the while. [Exit Messala. 
Why didst thou send me forth, brave Cassius ? 80 

Did I not meet thy friends ? and did not they 
Put on my brows this wreath of victory, 
And bid me give it thee ? Didst thou not hear their shouts ? 
Alas, thou hast misconstru'd everything ! 
But, hold thee, take this garland on thy brow ; 85 

Thy Brutus bid me give it thee, and I 
Will do his bidding. — Brutus, come apace, 
And see how I regarded Caius Cassius. — 
By your leave, gods : — this is a Roman's part : 89 

Come, Cassius' sword, and find Titinius' heart. [Dies. 

Alarum. Enter Brutus, Messala, young Cato, Strato, 
Volumnius, and Lucilius. 

Brutus. Where, where, Messala, doth his body lie ? 
Messala. Lo, yonder, and Titinius mourning it ! 
Brutus. Titinius' face is upward. 

or ill, was called success. II, ii, 6. In Richard III, IV, iv, 236, we read 
' dangerous success ' ; in Joshua, i, 8, ' good success ' ; so Coriol., I, i, 264. 
— 67. melancholy's. — "Cassius was predisposed to melancholy, being 
bilious." Hudson. Such a person is prone to believe unfavorable sug- 
gestions? — 68. apt = susceptible? ready to receive impressions? — In II, 
ii, 97, it means 'likely' ? In III, i, 161, 'tit.'— 71. kill'st. Like the 
adder's brood in popular superstition? — 84. misconstru'd. Accent? 
See 'construe,' I, iii, 34. — 85. hold thee. I, iii, 116; Winter's Tale, IV, 
iv, 65; Abbott, 212. — 86. bid. Shakes, ofteu uses bid and bade ; bidden, 
once. Abbott, 342, 343. — 89. Roman's part. The ' high Roman fashion ' 
of suicide! See Hamlet, V, ii, 329; Macbeth, V, viii, 1. — Note the rhyme. 
I, ii, 311; II, iii, 13, 14,-93. upward. "With his back to the field and 



SCENE III.] JULIUS CAESAR. 165 

Cato. He is slain. 

Brutus. Julius Csesar, thou art mighty yet ! 
Thy spirit walks abroad, and turns our swords 95 

In our own proper entrails ! [Low alarums. 

Cato. Brave Titinius ! 

Look, whe'r he have not crown'd dead Cassius ! 

Brutus. Are yet two Romans living such as these ? 
The last of all the Romans, fare thee well ! 
It is impossible that ever Rome loo 

Should breed thy fellow. — Friends, I owe mo tears 
To this dead man than you shall see me pay. — 
I shall find time, Cassius, I shall find time. — 
Come, therefore, and to Thasos send his body : 
His funerals shall not be in our camp, 105 

Lest it discomfort us. — Lucilius, come ; 
And come, young Cato ; let us to the field. — 
Labeo and Flavio, set our battles on : 
'Tis three o'clock ; and, Romans, yet ere night 
We shall try fortune in a second right. [Exeunt. 

his feet to the foe." Campbell's Lochiel. — 94. mighty yet, etc. The 
keynote of the play. Hudson.— 96. in = into? Abbott, 159. — proper. 
See note on I, ii, 38. All's Well, IV, ii, 49. — 97. whe'r. I, i, 61. Abbott, 
466. The folio has ivhere. Some editors substitute whether. — 99. last 
of all the Romans. " After he had lamented the death of Cassius, call- 
ing him the last of all the Romans, being impossible that Rome should ever 
breed again so noble and valiant a man as he, he caused his body to be 
buried, and sent it to the city of Thassos, fearing lest his funerals within 
his camp should cause great disorder." North's Plutarch. — It is possible 
that the in the last may be for thou, vocative. Probable? Abbott, 13. — 
101. mo. So the folio. "See II, i, 72. — 104. Thasos. The folio has Tharsus ; 
North, Thassos. Thasos (or Thasus, now Tasso or Thaso) is an island 
in the north of the Grecian Archipelago, about 3k miles from the coast 
of Thrace and S.E. of Philippi. The commissary stores of the army were 
here. — 105. funerals = obsequies. The plural is like nuptials, and 
Shakes, uses it three times for the singular; funeral, fifteen times. 
Timon, I, i, 381; Titus Andron., I, i, 381. — 108. Flavio. Folio has 
'Flavio,' as often 'Antonio' for Antonius. Labeo was one of the con- 
spirators and committed suicide after the battle. — 109. three o'clock. 
So Plutarch. 



166 JULIUS CAESAR. [ACT V. 



Scene IV. Another Part of the Field. 

Alarum. Enter Brutus, Messala, Cato, Lucilius, and 
Flavius. 

Brutus. Yet, countrymen, 0, yet hold up your heads ! 

Cato. What bastard doth not ? Who will go with me ? 
I will proclaim my name about the field : 
I am the son of Marcus Cato, ho ! 

A foe to tyrants, and my country's friend ! 5 

I am the son of Marcus Cato, ho ! 

Brutus. And I am Brutus, Marcus Brutus, I ! 
Brutus, my country's friend ! know me for Brutus ! [Exit. 

Lucilius. young and noble Cato ! art thou down ? 
Why, now thou diest as bravely as Titinius ; 10 

And mayst be honor'd, being Cato's son. 

First Soldier. Yield, or thou diest ! 

Lucilius. Only I yield to die : 

There is so much that thou wilt kill me straight. 

[Offering money. 
Kill Brutus, and be honor'd in his death. 

First Soldier. We must not. A noble prisoner ! 15 

Second Soldier. Room, ho ! Tell Antony, Brutus is ta'en ! 

First Soldier. I'll tell the news. Here comes the general. 

Enter Antony. 

Brutus is ta'en, Brutus is ta'en, my lord ! 

Antony. Where is he ? 

Lucilius. Safe, Antony ; Brutus is safe enough : 20 

I dare assure thee that no enemy 
Shall ever take alive the noble Brutus : 
The gods defend him from so great a shame ! 
When you do find him, or alive or dead, 
He will be found like Brutus, like himself. 25 

Antony. This is not Brutus, friend ; but, I assure you, 

Scene IV. Twenty days really elapsed between the two battles. 
Meanwhile a sea-fight occurred in which the side of Brutus was victorious. 
— 2. bastard. II, i, 138; IV, iii, 20. — 10. mayst. A wish?— 12. only. 
Modifies what ? — Abbott, 420. — 14. honor'd. ' Honor ' again ? — 17. the. 
The folio has thee. Theobald changed it to the.— 25. like himself = 



SCENE V.] JULIUS CsESAR. 167 

A prize no less in worth. Keep this man safe ; 

Give him all kindness : I had rather have 

Such men my friends than enemies. Go on, 

And see whe'r Brutus be alive or dead ; 30 

And bring us word unto Octavius' tent 

How everything is chanced. [Exeunt. 

Scene V. Another Part of the Field. 
Enter Brutus, Dardanius, Clitus, Strato, and 

VOLUMNIUS. 

Brutus. Come, poor remains of friends, rest on this rock. 

Clitus. Statilius show'd the torchlight, but, my lord, 
He came not back : he is or ta'en or slain. 

Brutus. Sit thee down, Clitus : slaying is the word ; 
It is a deed in fashion. Hark thee, Clitus. [ Whispers. 

Clitus. What ! I, my lord ? No, not for all the world. 6 

Brutus. Peace, then ! no words. 

Clitus. I'll rather kill myself. 

Brutus. Hark thee, Dardanius. [ Whispers. 

Dardanius. Shall I do such a deed ? 

Clitus. Dardanius ! 10 

Dardanius. O Clitus ! 

Clitus. What ill request did Brutus make to thee ? 

Dardanius. To kill him, Clitus. Look, he meditates ! 

Clitus. Now is that noble vessel full of grief, 
That it runs over even at his eyes. 

Brutus. Come hither, good Volumnius ; list a word. 

Volumnius. What says my lord? 15 

Brutus. Why, this, Volumnius : 

The ghost of Caesar hath appear'd to me 
Two several times by night ; at Sardis once, 
And, this last night, here in Philippi fields : 
I know my hour is come. 

Volumnius. Not so, my lord. 20 

Brutus. Nay, I am sure it is, Volumnius. 

true to his higher self? — 27. this man. He served Antony faithfully 
afterwards. — 30. whe'r. Folio has where. V, iii, 97. 

Scene V. 1. on this rock. ' Under a large rock,' says Plutarch. — 
2. torchlight. So Plutarch. — 4. the word = the word that best 
expresses what is to be done? G'oriol., III, ii, 142; Mer. of Fen., Ill, v, 
35. — 13. vessel. A Scripture word. 1 Thessalon., iv, 4; 2 Tim., ii, 20; 
Wint. Tale, III, iii, 21. — 18. Several. II, i, 138. —19. Plutarch is closely 
followed. "The Romans called the valley between both camps the 



168 JULIUS CESAR. [ACT V. 

Thou seest the world, Volumnius, how it goes ; 

Our enemies have beat us to the pit : [Low alarums. 

It is more worthy to leap in ourselves, 

Than tarry till they push us. Good Volumnius, 25 

Thou know'st that we two went to school togethei : 

Even for that our love of old, I prithee, 

Hold thou my sword-hilts, whilst I run on it. 

Volumnius. That's not an office for a friend, my lord. 

[Alarum still. 

Clitus. Fly, fly, my lord ! there is no tarrying here. 30 

Brutus. Farewell to you; and you; and you, Volumnius. 
Strato, thou hast been all this while asleep ; 
Farewell to thee too, Strato. Countrymen, 
My heart doth joy that yet in all my life 
I found no man but he was true to me. 35 

I shall have glory by this losing day 
More than Octavius and Mark Antony 
By this vile conquest shall attain unto. 
So fare you well at once ; for Brutus' tongue 
Hath almost ended his life's history : 40 

Night hangs upon mine eyes ; my bones would rest, 
That have but labor'd to attain this hour. 

[Alarum. Cry within, " Fly, fly, fly ! " 

Clitus. Fly, my lord, fly ! 

Brutus. Hence ! I will follow. 

[Exeunt Clitus, Dardanius, and Volumnius. 
I prithee, Strato, stay thou by thy lord : 
Thou art a fellow of a good respect ; 45 

Thy life hath had some sinatch of honor in it : 
Hold then my sword, and turn away thy face, 
While I do run upon it. Wilt thou, Strato ? 

Strato. Give me your hand first. Fare you well, my lord ! 

Brutus. Farewell, good Strato. [Runs on his sword. - ] 

Caesar, now be still: so 

I kill'd not thee with half so good a will. [Dies. 

Philippian Fields." Abbott. 22. —world. I, ii, 29(3.-23. beat. 
Abbott, 343; Coriol., I, vi, 40. — Shakes, uses beaten also. — 28. hilts, 
V, Hi, 43. — 33. thee, too, Strato. Countrymen, etc. The folio reads 
thee, to Strato, Countrymen. All the editors concur in Theohald's correc- 
tion. —For you and thee, see Abbott, 232. — 35. but. Abbott, 123.— 
36. glory. Ruling passion? — 38. unto. Accent? Abbott, 457.— 42. but. 
Modified what? — 43. fly. " Brutus, rising up, said, ' We must fly indeed, 
but it must be with our hands, not with our feet.' " Plutarch. — 45. good 
respect. I, ii, 54. — 4(>. sniatch = smack ? tincture? taste?— Onomato- 



SCENE V.] JULIUS CAESAR. 169 



Alarum. Retreat. Enter Octavius, Antony, Messala, 
Lucilius, and the Army. 

Octavius. What man is that ? 

Messala. My master's man. — Strato, where is thy master ? 

Strato. Free from the bondage yon are in, Messala : 
The conquerors can but make a fire of him ; 55 

For Brutus only overcame himself, 
And no man else hath honor by his death. 

Lucilius. So Brutus should be found. I thank thee, Brutus, 
That thou hast prov'd Lucilius' saying true. 

Octavius. All that serv'd Brutus, I will entertain them. 
Fellow, wilt thou bestow thy time with me ? 61 

Strato. Ay, if Messala will prefer me to you. 

Octavius. Do so, good Messala. 

Messala. How died my master, Strato ? 

Strato. I held the sword, and he did run on it. 05 

Messala. Octavius, then take him to follow thee, 
That did the latest service to my master. 

Antony. This was the noblest Roman of them all : 
All the conspirators, save only he, 

Did that they did in envy of great Csesar ; 70 

He, only in a general honest thought, 
And common good to all, made one of them. 
His life was gentle, and the elements 
So mix'd in him that Nature might stand up 
And say to all the world " This was a man ! " 75 

poetic ?— honor ! — 59. true. V, iv, 21, 22, 25.— 60. entertain = take 
into service ? Repeatedly so used in Shakes. — Latin inter, among ; tenere, 
to keep, hold. 

61. bestow thy time with = give up thy time to me [Craik] i — 
62. prefer = transfer, hand over [Craik]? recommend [Reed, Hudson, 
etc.]? — 67. latest service. "Messala, that had been Brutus' great 
friend, reconciled afterwards to Octavius Caesar's friend, and shortly after 
he brought Strato Brutus' friend unto him, and weeping said, 'Caesar, 
behold here is he that did the last service to my Brutus.' " Plutarch. — 
6i). save only he. Ill, ii, 59. — 71. He, only etc. "This is the folio 
punctuation, and correct, though altered by modern editors ; the sense 
being, ' He made one of them, simply in honorable care for the common- 
wealth.' " — thought = motive ? — 73-75. This passage, often applied to 
Shakes, himself, much resembles one in Dayton's The Barons' Wars, pub- 
lished in 1603, and another in Ben Jouson's Cynthia's Revels, acted in 1600. 
The latter, describing Crites, is as follows: " A creature of a most perfect 
and divine temper ; one in whom the humors and elements are peaceably 
met without emulation of precedency. He is neither too fantastically mel- 
ancholic, too slowly phlegmatic, too lightly sanguine, or too rashly choleric : 



170 JULIUS CAESAR. [ACT V. 

Octavius. According to his virtue let us use liirn, 
With all respect and rites of burial. 
Within my tent his bones to-night shall lie, 
Most like a soldier, order'd honorably. 

So call the field to rest ; and let's away, 80 

To part the glories of this happy day. [Exeunt. 

but in all so composed and ordered as it is clear Nature went about some 
full work, sbe did more than make a man when she made him." — 81. part. 
Matthew, xxvii, 35. 



APPENDIX. 



"TIME ANALYSIS." 

Mr. P. A. Daniel sums up the 'time analysis' of the play as 
follows : — 

Six days represented on the stage, with intervals. 

Day I. Act I, sc. i and sc. ii. — Interval, one month. 

Day II. Act I, sc. iii. 

Day III. Acts II and III. — Interval. 

Day IV. Act IV, sc. i. — Interval. 

Day V. Act IV. sc. ii and sc. iii. — Interval, one day at least. 

Day VI. Act V. 

Upton (1746) says as follows: "About the middle of February, 
a.u.c 709 [44 b.c], a frantic festival, sacred to Pan and called 
Lupercalia, was held in honor of Caesar, when the regal crown was 
offered to him by Antony. On the 15 March in the same year he 
was slain. November 27, a.u.c. 710 [43 b.c], the triumvirs met at 
a small island formed by the river Rhenus, near Bononia, and there 
adjusted their cruel proscription, a.u.c. 711 [42 b.c], Brutus and 
Cassius were defeated near Philippi." — Verify or disprove. 



HOW TO STUDY ENGLISH LITERATURE. 

[From George H. Martin, Agent of the Mass. Board of Education.] 

What is wanted is a carefully graded course, which, beginning 
with the poetry of action, should lead the student step by step to 
the sentimental and the reflective, all in their simplest forms, thence 
through the more elaborate narrative to the epic and the dramatic. 
The aim here is not to teach authors or works, but poetry; and the 
works are selected for their value as illustrations, without reference 
to their authors. A parallel course in the study of prose should be 
pursued with the same end. Then, having learned what poetry is 
and what prose is, what they contain and how to find their contents, 
the pupils would be prepared to take up the study of individual 
authors. Having studied the authors, the final step would be to study 
the history of the literature, in which the relation of the authors to 

171 



172 APPENDIX. 

each other arid to their times would appear. This would place the 
study of literature on a scientific basis, — first elementary ideas, then 
individual wholes, then relation, and classifications. 

[From an address by L. B. Williston, A.M., Supervisor of Public 
Schools, Boston.'] 

How shall the teacher bring his pupils best to see and feel the 
thoughts of his author as he saw and felt them ? 

First, Read the work carefully with them. Let the teacher read, 
and question as he reads. Let him often ask for paraphrases, and 
draw out in every way the thought of his class, making sure that all 
is clear. Let every impression have a corresponding expression, which 
shall re-act, and deepen the impression. 

Second, When a part of the work, an act, book, or canto, has 
been carefully read, assign a theme for a written essay. Let the 
class tell what the poet has attempted, how he has succeeded, what 
are the impressions made by the characters, scenes, and descriptions. 

Let the teacher himself write upon the themes assigned to his class, 
and thus give them a model of what he wishes them to do. 

Third, When the book or play has been carefully read and studied 
in this way in all its parts, let it be re-read in a larger and freer way 
than before. Let the pupils read, and the teacher watch to see if 
the thought is clearly apprehended by the pupil. Let the fine pas- 
sages be read again and again by different members of the class, and 
their rendering be criticised by class and teacher. If the work read 
be a play, let the parts be taken by different members of the class. 
Let all the parts of the work now be studied in their relation to each 
other and to the whole. Essays now should be written upon subjects 
suggested by this more comprehensive study of the work, — a com- 
parison of characters, noteworthy scenes and their bearing upon the 
whole, the style of the author, and his skill in description, dramatic 
presentation, or invention. 

If it is objected that it is impossible for a teacher with a large class 
to revise and correct such a mass of written work, I answer that it is 
not to be expected that all the written work of a class should be read 
and carefully corrected by the teacher. Let him criticise, or rather 
call upon his class to do so, what is noticeably wrong in the essays 
as they are read. • In these exercises, let the attention be directed 
chiefly to the thought. Let thought govern and direct expression. 
From time to time, according to the number of his class and the 
teacher's ability, let him assign essays to be carefully written and 
handed in for his own careful reading and criticism. But let there 
be an abundance of free and rapid writing, that composition, that is, 
thought put into writing, may become easy and natural. The object 
of the writing is not to teach the correct use of English, so much as to 
make clear thinkers and to fix and deepen impressions. 

Fourth, With the careful reading and study of some book in school, 
I think it important that there should go the reading of some other 
book oat of school. Flowers are not all to be picked and analyzed, 
but are to be enjoyed as they are seen by " him who runs." " Some 



APPENDIX. 173 

books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, some few to be chewed 
and digested." Let the pupil have his exercise in merely "tasting" 
books, with enjoyment as the chief end. Let the teacher be his 
guide, and merely ask him to report what he finds. In other words, 
let him read, as we all read when we read for pleasure, — with his 
mind at ease and open to every charm that genius can present. Let 
the teacher make the book the subject of conversation with his class, 
and draw their attention by his questions to the chief points which 
make it noteworthy. 

To what extent shall the memory be called upon in the study of 
English literature ? Not, I think, to commit long passages, whole 
books, and cantos of poems. Let the pupil absorb as much as pos- 
sible in frequent reading and in study. Now and then, let a few 
striking lines, that have been learned by heart rather than committed 
to memory, be recited. Do not make a disagreeable task of any such 
exercise. For, that our pupils may receive the highest and best influ- 
ence from this study of English literature, it is essential that they 
love it, and retain only pleasant memories of the hours spent at school 
in the society of its best authors. 

[From J. M. Buchan, Inspector of High Schools, Ontario, Canada ; 
quoted in BlaisdelVs " Outline Studies in English Classics, : ' 1 a 
work that should be in the hands of every teacher of our literature.] 

With all classes of pupils alike, the main thing to be aimed at by 
the teacher is to lead them clearly and fully to understand the mean- 
ing of the author they are reading, and to appreciate the beauty, the 
nobleness, the justness, or the sublimity of his thoughts and language. 
Parsing, the analysis of sentences, the derivation of words, the 
explanation of allusions, the scansion of verse, the pointing-out of 
figures of speech, the hundred and one minor matters on which the 
teacher may easily dissipate the attention of the pupil, should be 
strictly subordinated to this great aim. ... It is essential that the 
mind of the reader should be put en rapport with that of the writer. 
There is something in the influence of a great soul upon another, 
which defies analysis. No analysis of a poem, however subtle, can 
produce the same effect upon the mind and heart as the reading of the 
poem itself. 

Though the works of Shakespeare and Milton and our other great 
writers were not intended by their authors to serve as text-books 
for future generations, yet it is unquestionably the case that a large 
amount of information may be imparted, and a very valuable train- 
ing given, if we deal with them as we deal with Homer and Horace 
in our best schools. Parsing, grammatical analysis, the derivation of 
words, prosody, composition, the history of the language, and to a 
certain extent the history of the race, may be both more pleasantly 
and more profitably taught in this than in any other way. It is advis- 
able for these reasons, also, that the study of these subjects should be 
conjoined with that of the English literature. Not only may time be 
thus economized, but the difficulty of fixing the attention of flighty 
and inappreciative pupils may more easily be overcome. 



174 APPENDIX. 

[From F. G. Fleay^s '■'■Guide to Chaucer and Spenser."] 

No doubtful critical point should ever be set before the student as 
ascertained. One great advantage of these studies is the acquirement 
of a power of forming a judgment in cases of conflicting evidence. 
Give the student the evidence ; state your own opinion, if you like, 
but let him judge for himself. 

No extracts or incomplete works should be used. The capability of 
appreciating a whole work, as a whole, is one of the principal aims in 
aesthetic culture. 

It is better to read thoroughly one simple play or poem than to know 
details about all the dramatists and poets. The former trains the brain 
to judge of other plays or poems ; the latter only loads the memory 
with details that can at any time be found, when required, in books 
of reference. 

For these studies to completely succeed, they must be as thorough 
as our classical studies used to be. No difficult point in syntax, pros- 
ody, accidence, or pronunciation ; no variation in manners or cus- 
toms ; no historical or geographical allusion, — must be passed over 
without explanation. This training in exactness will not interfere 
with, but aid, the higher aims of literary training. 

[From Rev. Henry JV. Hudson, Shakespearian Editor.] 

I have never had and never will have anything but simple exercises ; 
the pupils reading the author under the teacher's direction, correction, 
and explanation ; the teacher not even requiring, though usually 
advising, them to read over the matter in advance. Thus it is a joint 
communing of teacher and pupils with the author for the time being; 
just that, and nothing more. Nor, assuredly, can such communion, 
in so far as it is genial and free, be without substantial and lasting 
good, — far better, indeed, than any possible cramming of mouth and 
memory for recitation. The one thing needful here is, that the pupils 
rightly understand and feel what they read ; this secured, all the rest will 
take care of itself. 

[From Dr. Johnson, 1765.] 

Let him that is yet unacquainted with the powers of Shakespeare, 
and who desires to feel the greatest pleasure that the drama can give, 
read every play, from the first scene to the last, with utter negligence 
to all his commentators. When his fancy is once on the wing, let it 
not stoop at correction or explanation. Let him read on through bright- 
ness and obscurity, through integrity and corruption ; let him preserve 
his comprehension of the dialogue, and his interest in the fable. And 
when the pleasures of novelty have ceased, let him attempt exactness, 
and read the commentators. 

[From Professor Brainerd Kellogg. ] 

The student ought, first of all, to read the play as a pleasure ; then 
to read over again, with his mind upon the characters and the plot ; 
and, lastly, to read it for the meanings, grammar, etc. 



APPENDIX. 175 

1. The Plot and Story of the Play. 

(a) The general plot ; 

(b) The special incidents. 

2. The Characters: Ability to give a connected account of all that 

is done and most of what is said by each character in the play. 

3. The Influence and Interplay of the Characters upon each 

other. 

(«) Relation of A to B, and of B to A ; 

(b) Relation of A to C and D. 

4. Complete Possession of the Language. 

(a) Meanings of words ; 

(&) Use of old words, or of words in an old meaning ; 

(c) Grammar ; 

(d) Ability to quote lines to illustrate a grammatical point. 

5. Power to Reproduce, or Quote. 

(a) What was said by A or B on a particular occasion ; 
(6) What was said by A in reply to B ; 

(c) What argument was used by C at a particular juncture ; 

(d) To quote a line in instance of an idiom or of a peculiar 

meaning. 

6. Power to Locate. 

(a) To attribute a line or statement to a certain person on a 

certain occasion ; 
(6) To cap a line ; 
(c) To fill in the right word or epithet. 

[From BlaisdelVs " Outlines for the Study of English Classics."] 

The following summary of points to be exacted . . . may prove 
useful : — 

I. — Points relative to substance. 

1. A general knowledge of the purport of the passages, and line 

of argument pursued. 

2. An exact paraphrase of parts of the whole, producing exactly 

and at length the author's meaning. 

3. The force and character of epithets. 

4. The meaning of similes, and expansions of metaphors. 

5. The exact meaning of individual words. 

II. — Points with regard to form. 

1. General grammar rules ; if necessary, peculiarities of English 

grammar. 

2. Derivations : (1) General laws and principles of derivations, 

including a knowledge of affixes and suffixes. (2) Interest- 
ing historical derivation of particular words. 



176 APPENDIX. 

III. — The knowledge of all allusions. 

IV. — A knowledge of such parallel passages and illustrations 

as the teacher has supplied. 



[From Professor William Taylor Thorn, 1883.] 

To understand .Shakespeare, we must understand his medium of 
thought, his language, as thoroughly as possible. For this, study is 
necessary ; and one notable advantage of the thorough study of this 
medium is that the student becomes unconsciously more or less im- 
bued with Shakespeare's turn of thought while observing his turn of 
phrase. . . . 

For the class-room, a non-aesthetic, preliminary study is best. And 
this may be accomplished in the following way : By studying carefully 
the Text, — the words themselves and their forms ; their philological 
content, so far as such content is essential to the thought ; and the 
grammatical differences of usage, then and now ; by observing accu- 
rately the point of view of life ( Weltanschauung) historically and 
otherwise, as shown in the text ; by taking what may be called the 
actor's view of the personages of the play ; and, finally, by a sober 
and discriminating aesthetic discussion of the' characters, of the prin- 
ciples represented by those characters, and of the play in its parts and 
as a whole. 

I. With regard to the words themselves and their forms : There is no 
doubt that Shakespeare's words and word-combinations need constant 
and careful explanation in order for the pupil to seize the thought accu- 
rately or even approximately. Here, as elsewhere, Coleridge's dictum 
remains true: "In order to get the full sense of a word, we should 
first p'resent to our minds the visual image that forms its primary 
meaning." . . . 

II. But this does not exhaust the interest of the words themselves. 
They are frequently so full of a particular use and meaning of their 
own that they have evidently been chosen by Shakespeare on that 
account, and can only serve fully their purpose of conveying his mean- 
ing when themselves comprehended. This opens up to the pupil one 
of the most interesting aspects of words, — their function of embalm- 
ing the ideas and habits of a past generation, thus giving little photo- 
graphic views, as it were, of the course of the national life. Thus, a 
new element of interest and weird reality is added when we find that 
" And like a rat without a tail " is not stuffed into the witch-speech in 
Macbeth merely for rhyme's sake {Mac. I, iii, 9). It is doubtful if 
anything brings so visibly before the mind's eye the age, and therefore 
the proper point of view, of Shakespeare as the accurate following-out 
of these implied views of life, these old popular beliefs contained in 
his picturesque language. . . . 

III. Difficulties consisting in the forms of words have been already 
mentioned ; but they constitute in reality only a part, perhaps the least 
part, of the grammatical impediment to our apprehending Shakespeare 
clearly. There is in him a splendid superiority to what we call gram- 



APPENDIX. 177 

mar which entails upon us more or less of close, critical observation of 
his word-order, if we would seize the very thought. Thus Lady Mac- 
beth speaks of Macbeth's "flaws and starts" as "impostors to true 
fear" (III, iv, 64). Here, if we understand "to" in its ordinary 
meaning-, we lose entirely the fine force of its use by Shakespeare, 
"compared to true fear," and fail to see how subtly Lady Macbeth is 
trying to persuade Macbeth that there is no cause for fear, that he is 
not truly " afeard," but merely hysterical and unbalanced ; and, fail- 
ing in that, we fail in part to realize the prodigious nerve and force she 
was herself displaying, though vainly, for Macbeth's sake. So, too, a 
few lines farther on, Macbeth's fine saying, "Ere humane statute 
purged the gentle weal," becomes finer when we see that "gentle" 
means for us "gentled," or "and made it gentle " (III, iv, 76). But 
for the apprehension of such, to us, unwonted powers in our noble 
mother tongue, we must study : work, that is the word for it. We 
appreciate Shakespeare, as we do other things, when he has cost us 
something. . . . 

IV. With such preliminary and coincident study, the pupil prepares 
herself for that wider sweep of vision called for by the views of life 
and of the xmiverse expressed or implied by the dramatis personal 
themselves. The habit of mind thus acquired enables her to compre- 
hend quickly the notions of God, of life, of creation ( Weltanschauung) 
found in ante-protestant times ; and she is ready to sympathize with 
humanity, no matter as to age, or race, or clime. . . . 

V. Another prolific source of the realization of Shakespeare's con- 
ception is obtained by suggesting the actor's view to the pupil. There 
is much quickening of sympathy in representing to ourselves the look, 
the posture, emphasis, of the character who speaks. The same words 
have a totally different force according as they are pronounced ; and 
it is like a revelation to a pupil sometimes to learn that a speech, or 
even a word, was uttered thus and not so. . . . 

VI. Now, all this is preliminary work and should lead up to the 
cesthetic appreciation of Shakespeare's characters ; and to that end, 
real conceptions, right or wrong, are essential. Let it be distinctly 
understood : all study of words, of grammatical construction, of views 
of life peculiar to an age past, of bodily posture and gesture, — all are 
the preparation for the study of the characters themselves ; that is, 
of the play itself; that is, of what Mr. Hudson calls the "Shake- 
speare of Shakespeare." If the student does not rise to this view of 
Shakespeare, she had better let Shakespeare alone and go at some- 
thing else. In studying the lives of such men as Hamlet or Lear, and 
of such women as Lady Macbeth or Cordelia, it is of the utmost con- 
sequence that the attention of the pupil be so directed to their deeds 
and words, their expression and demonstration of feeling, — to the 
things, further, which they omit to say or do, — as to make the con- 
ception of personality as strong as possible. . . . 

For a class of boys or girls, I hold that the most effectual and rapid 
and profitable method of studying Shakespeare is for them to learn 
one play as thoroughly as their teacher can make them do it. Then 
they can read other plays with a profit and a pleasure unknown and 
unknowable, without such a previous drill and study. 



178 APPENDIX. 

Applying now these principles, if such they can be called, my method 
of work is this. One of the plays is selected, and after some brief 
introductory matter, the class begins to study. Each pupil reads in 
turn a number of lines, and then is expected to give such explana- 
tions of the text as are to be found in the notes, supplemented by her 
own knowledge. She has pointed out to her such other matters also 
as may be of interest and are relevant to the text. 

When the play has been finished or when any character disappears 
from the play, — as Polonius in Hamlet, Duncan in Macbeth, the Fool 
in King Lear, — the class have all those passages in the play pointed 
out to them wherein this character appears or mention is made of 
him ; and then, with this, Shakespeare's, biography of him before 
their eyes, they are required to write a composition — bane of pupils, 
most useful of teachers' auxiliaries — on this character, without other 
sesthetic assistance or hints than they may have gathered from the 
teacher in the course of their study. This is to be their work, and to 
express their opinions of the man or the woman under discussion, and 
is to show how far they have succeeded in retaining their thoughts 
and impressions concerning the character, and how far they wish to 
modify them under this review. They are thus compelled to realize 
what they do and do not think ; what they do and do not know ; in 
how far the character does or does not meet their approval, and why. 
That is, the pupils are compelled to pass judgment upon themselves 
along with the Shakespeare character. . . . 

[From Professor J. 31. D. Meiklejohn's " General Notice," 1879.] 

. . . The first purpose in this elaborate annotation is, of course, 
the full working out of Shakespeare's meaning. . . . This thorough 
excavation of the meaning of a really profound thinker is one of the 
very best kinds of training that a boy or girl can receive at school. . . . 
And always new rewards come to the careful reader — in the shape 
of new meanings, recognition of thoughts he had before missed, of 
relations between the characters that had hitherto escaped him. . . . 
It is probable that, for those pupils who do not study either Greek or 
Latin, this close examination of every word and phrase in the text of 
Shakespeare will be the best substitute that can be found for the study 
of the ancient classics. 

It were much to be hoped that Shakespeare should become more 
and more of a study, and that every boy and girl should have a 
thorough knowledge of at least one play of Shakespeare before leav- 
ing school. It would be one of the best lessons in human life, with- 
out the chance of a polluting or degrading experience. It would also 
have the effect of bringing back into the too pale and formal English of 
modern times a large number of pithy and vigorous phrases, which 
would help to develop as well as to reflect vigor in the characters of 
the readers. Shakespeare used the English language with more power 
than any other writer that ever lived — he made it do more and say 
more than it had ever done ; he made it speak in a more original way ; 
and his combinations of words are perpetual provocations and invita- 
tions to originality and to newness of insight. 



APPENDIX. 179 

From all that has been quoted from the foregoing authorities, it 
may justly be inferred that somehow or other the pupil must be made 
to feel an interest in the author, to admire what is admirable in the 
composition, and really to enjoy its study. Secure this, and all else 
will follow as a matter of course : fail in this, and the time is wasted. 

The following suggestions, 1 or some of them, may be helpful in 
daily class-work : — 

1. At the beginning of the exercise, or as often as need be, require a 

statement of — 

(ff) The main object of the author in the whole poem, oration, 
play, or other production of which to-day's lesson is a part. 

(b) The object of the author in this particular canto, chapter, 
act, or other division of the main work. 

2. Read or recite from memory (or have the pupils do it) the finest part 

or parts of the last lesson. The elocutionary talent of the class 
should be utilized here, so that the author may appear at his best. 

3. Require at times (often enough to keep the whole fresh in mem- 

ory) a resume of the 'argument,' story, or succession of topics, 
up to the present lesson. 

4. Have the student read aloud the sentence, paragraph, or lines, 

now (or previously) assigned. The appointed portion should 
have some unity. 

5. Let the student interpret exactly the meaning by substituting his 

own words : explain peculiarities. This paraphrase should often 
be in writing. 

6. Let him state the immediate object of the author in these lines. 

Is this object relevant ? important ? appropriate in this place ? 

7. Let him point out the ingredients (particular thoughts) that make 

up the passage. Are they in good taste ? just ? natural ? well 
arranged ? 

8. Let him point out other merits or defects, — anything noteworthy 

as regards nobleness of principle or sentiment, grace, delicacy, 
beauty, rhythm, sublimity, wit, wisdom, humor, naivete, kindli- 
ness, pathos, energy, concentrated truth, logical force, origin- 
ality ; give allusions, kindred passages, principles illustrated, etc. 

Passages of special interest may well be made the basis of lan- 
guage lessons and of rhetorical drill. For example, a pupil might be 
required to master thoroughly the first twenty lines of Brutus' speech, 
Act HI, sc. ii, 13-32, and then to prepare an oral or written exercise 
upon them somewhat as follows : — 

1. Memorize the lines and recite them with proper vocal expression. 

2. (a) Explain any unusual or difficult words and sentences. 

(6) Translate the passage into equivalent English, using, as far as 

possible, different words, 
(c) Point out its merits and defects, quoting parallel passages. 

3. Call for criticisms by the class. 

1 See Suggestions to Teachers, in Sprague's edition of the First Two Books 
of Paradise Lost and Lycidas. See also, especially. Sprague's edition of 
Macbeth, pp. 235, 2:M\; and of The Merchant of Venice, pp. 171, 172. 



180 APPENDIX. 

EXAMINATION PAPERS. 

(SELECTED.) 
FIRST SERIES. 

A. (Act I.) 

1. Write a summary of what passed between Brutus and Cassius, while 
Caesar was attending the games. 

2. Describe their interview with Casca after the games. 

3. What is a portent ? Enumerate the portents described by Casca. 

B. (Act II.) 

1. Describe the interview between Brutus and Portia. 

2. What does Calpurnia mean by the words ' I never stood on cere- 
monies ' ? Enumerate the ' ceremonies ' she mentions. 

3. How did Decius induce Caesar to attend the Senate ? 



C. (Act III.) 

1. Describe the precautions taken by the conspirators, and show how 
they effected their purpose. 

2. Describe the interview of Antony with Brutus and Cassius. 

3. 'Over thy wounds now do I prophesy.' Who spoke these words? 
Relate the prophecy. 

D. (Act III.) 

1. Compare and contrast the speeches of Brutus and Antony, giving 
illustrative extracts. 

2. Explain the expression 'His glory not extenuated,' and give its con- 
nection. 

3. Relate and explain Antony's conduct over the will. 

E. (Act IV.) 

1. What is the meaning and connection of the words ' Thou hast 
described a hot friend cooling ' ? 

2. What did Brutus and Cassius quarrel about ? 

3. Illustrate from this Act the generosity of Brutus, and his kindly con- 
sideration for others. 

F. (Act V.) 

1. Describe the last interview of Brutus and Cassius. 

2. Under what circumstances did Cassius commit suicide? 

3. Describe the death of Brutus. 



APPENDIX. 181 

SECOND SERIES. 
G. 

1. Give a brief narrative of the historical basis of the play. 

2. Which was the better practical man of business, Brutus or Cassius? 
Give reasons for your answer. 

3. Explain the following expressions, and state by whom, and to whom, 
and when they were uttered : — 

(a) He doth bestride the narrow world Like a Colossus. 

(b) This rudeness is a sauce to his good wit. 

(c) Our yoke and sufferance show us womanish. 

(d) You stared upon me with ungentle looks. 

fe) Turn pre-ordinance and first decree Into the law of children. 
(/) All the interim is Like a phantasma, or a hideous dream. 

H. 

1. Give particulars of any cases in which Shakespeare has deviated from 
history in Julius Cxsar. 

2. Give examples from this play of («) double negatives, (b) double 
comparatives, and (c) double superlatives. 

3. Explain the following passages, and give their connection: — 

(a) Why old men, fools, and children calculate. 

(b) It shall advantage more than do us wrong. 

(c) The gods do this in shame of cowardice. 

(d) His coward lips did from their color fly. 

(e) Thou hast no figures nor no fantasies. 
(/) So let high-sighted tyranny range on, 

Till each man drop by lottery. 



1. Give examples of anachronisms in this play. 

2. Explain the expression 'sterile curse,' and give other instances of 
similar constructions. 

3. Give the meaning and connection of the following : — 

(a) What tributaries follow him to Rome ? 

(b) Thy honorable metal may be wrought 
From that it is disposed. 

(c) Lowliness is young ambition's ladder. 

(d) That which would appear offence in us, 
His countenance, like richest alchemy, 
Will change to virtue and to worthiness. 

(e) Let us be sacrificers but not butchers. 

K. 

1. Give examples of ellipses and of compound adjectives. 

2. Write a character of Cassius, giving illustrative extracts. 

3. Give the meaning and connection of the following : — 

(«) I turn the trouble of my countenance Merely upon myself. 
(b) Dangers are to me indifferent. 



182 APPENDIX. 

(c) Is it physical To walk unbraced and suck up the humors 

Of the dank morning? 

(d) Thou hast misconstrued everything. 

(e) If Messala will prefer me to you. 
(/) When I tell him he hates flatterers, 

He says he does, being then most flattered. 

L. 

1. Write an analysis of Antony's speech in the Forum. 

2. Show how far the conspirators were actuated by public and political 
considerations, and how far by private and personal grievances. 

3. Explain the following passages and give their connection : — 

(a) Thy life hath had some smatch of honor in it. 
(6) O hateful error, melancholy's child. 

(c) Poor knave, I blame thee not ; thou art o'erwatched. 

(d) My ancestors did from the streets of Rome 

The Tarquin drive. 

(e) Hide it in smiles and affability. 
{f) It is a strange-disposed time. 

M. 

1. Write a character of Brutus, giving illustrative extracts. 

2. State what we learn from Julius Cxsar of Casca's character and 
conduct. 

3. Give the meaning and connection of the following: — 

(a) Being so father'd and so husbanded. 

(b) Stemming it with hearts of controversy. 

(c) Now is it Rome indeed and room enough. 

(d) The rabblement howted and clapped their chopt hands. 

(e) Had I been a man of any occupation. 

N. 

1. Write a character of Portia, giving illustrative extracts. 

2. In what particulars did Brutus overrule Cassius, and with what 
results ? 

3. Give the meaning and connection of the following : — 

. (a) Beware the ides of March. 
(6) Stand you directly in Antonius' way, 
When he doth run his course. 

(c) Disrobe the images 

If you do find them deck'd with ceremonies. 

(d) Swear priests, and cowards, and men cautelous. 

(e) I know no personal cause to spurn at him, 
But for the general. 



APPENDIX. 183 

THIRD SERIES. 

[Chiefly taken from the papers set by the English Civil Service Commissioners. 1 ] 



1. Write a short account of the action of the play. 

2. Explain and illustrate hy quotations the main differences between the 
characters of Brutus and Cassius. 

3. State by whom, of whom, and on what occasions the following lines 
were uttered : — 

(a) His coward lips did from their color fly. 

(b) He is a great observer, and he looks 
Quite through the deeds of men. . . . 

(c) Nor airless dungeon, nor strong links of iron, 
Can be retentive to the strength of spirit. 

(d) Let's carve him as a dish fit for the gods, 
Not hew him as a carcass fit for hounds. 

(e) A woman well-reputed, Cato's daughter. 

4. Explain and annotate the following words and phrases : To stale with 
ordinary oaths ; hearts of controversy ; promised forth ; cross'd in con- 
ference ; the cross blue lightning ; monstrous quality ; the element ; men 
cautelous ; charactery. 

5. Give six examples of compound adjectives in Julius Csesar. 

6. Give some instances of words formed like rabblement. 

7. What ' sights ' were seen in the streets of Rome before Caesar's 
death ? Quote some of the lines. 

B. 

1. Write a short account of Antony's speech over the dead body of Coesar. 

2. What were (a) the political and (b) the private reasons for the 
murder of Caesar ? 

3. State by whom, of whom, and on what occasions the following lines 
were uttered : — 

(a) Let not our looks put on our purposes. 
(6) Thou hast no figures nor no fantasies. 

(c) O world, thou wast the forest to this hart. 

(d) I am compelled to set 
Upon one battle all our liberties. 

(e) There are no tricks in plain and simple faith. 

4. Continue the above quotations. 

5. Explain and annotate the following words and phrases : Preformed 
faculties; drop by lottery; palter; even virtue; cognizance; fond; 
repeal; groaning for burial ; indirection; entertain them. 

6. Write the story of the action in Act V. 

7. Quote passages to illustrate Shakespeare's use of with ; of that fol- 
lowed by as ; of double superlatives and comparatives. 

1 These sets of examination questions are far from faultless, but they 
may serve as suggestions. Any careful teacher will discover how to 
impi ove upon them. 



184 APPENDIX. 



C. 

1. State the parts played (a) by Mark Antony, (b) by Casca, and (c) by 
Portia in the play; and quote some lines uttered by each of them on 
some critical occasion. 

2. In what localities do the events in the different Acts take place? 
Quote lines to prove your statements. 

3. By whom, of whom, and on what occasions were the following lines 
uttered ? 

(a) The angry spot doth glow on Caesar's brow. 

(6) O, he sits high in all the people's hearts. 

(<■) So let high-sighted tyranny range on. 

(d) But I am constant as the northern star. 

(e) He shall but bear them as the ass bears gold. 

(f) There is a tide in the affairs of men. 

(g) In Parthia did I take thee prisoner. 

4. Annotate the above lines, and continue them. 

5. Quote instances of Shakespeare's (") habit of ellipsis, and (b) use of 
an adjective for a preposition and a noun (as in sterile curse). 

(i. Explain the following words and phrases: The replication ; your 
passion; jealous on me; I have some aim; well-given; quirk metth , 
bear me hard; prevent; the main opinion; liable ; freedom of repeal, 
o'er shot myself. 

D. 

1. Describe briefly the events and actions which take place in the Third 
Act. 

2. Write a short analysis of Mark Antony's speech. 

3. By whom, of whom, and on what occasions were the following lines 
uttered ? 

(a) Set honor in one eye and death i' the other. 

(6) Why old men, fools, and children calculate. 

(c) Our yoke and sufferance shew us womanish. 

(d) She dreamt to-night she saw my st;itu< : . 

(e) One that feeds 
On objects, arts, and imitations. 

(/) When think you that the sword goes up again? 

4. Continue the above lines. 

5. Explain and annotate the following words and phrases: Set our bat- 
tles on; Messala will prefer me; the posture of your hloios ; humor; 
a property ; beholding; in his funeral ; letblood; addressed. 

6. Give some instances of Shakespeare's use of a double negative. 



APPENDIX. 



185 



SOME TOPICS FOR ESSAYS. 



Character of Csesar in Shake- 
speare. 

Character of Csesar in history. 

Character of Brutus in history. 

Character of Brutus in Shake- 
speare. 

Assassination as a means to politi- 
cal enfranchisement. 

Character of Cassius. 

Character of Mark Antony. 

Character of Augustus. 

Character of Portia. 

Caesar's ambition. 

Caesar's statesmanship. 

Caesar's marriages. 

Shakespeare's estimate of Caesar. 

Shakespeare's estimate of Cicero. 

Describe any scene in Shakespeare. 

Is the name of the play appro- 
priate? 

Brutus's sententious style. 

The Roman tribunes. 

Caesar's relations to Catiline. 

Caesar's relations to Pompey. 

Caesar's relations to Cicero. 

Describe a Roman triumph. 

Roman liberty in Caesar's time. 

Caesar's clemency. 

Brutus and Lucius. 



Shakespeare's indebtedness to 
Plutarch. 

Alleged omens of evil to Caesar. 

Caesar's plans of improvement. 

Caesar's reformation of the calen- 
dar. 

" Caesar and his Senate." 

Brutus's inconsistencies. 

Calpurnia. 

Caesar's superstitions. 

Caesar's " Manysidedness." 

The mirthful element in the play. 

Shakespeare's exhibition of Caesar's 
weak points. 

Brutus's oratory. 

Mark Antony's oratory. 

Brutus's ideal. 

The proscription in Act IV. 

Character of Lepidus. 

Quarrel between Brutus and Cas- 
sius. 

The two Philippi battles. 

Roman suicides. 

History of the play. 

The Lupercalia. 

The unity of interest in the play. 

Shakespeare's Portias. 

Roman funerals. 

Pompey's Curia. 



See also the questions and topics that follow the end of the foot- 
notes at the close of every scene. 



I^DEX 

OP 

WORDS, PHRASES, AND TOPICS. 



a or an before w, 4S 

abide, 112, 127 

abuse, 86 

advantage, 119 

JEneas, 57 

afeard, 100 

affections, 79 

after (= afterwards ?), 55 

aim, 59 

alchemy, 76 

all over, 85 

ambition's debt, 112 

an (=if?), 65, 152 

angel, 130 

annoying, 69, 88 

answer, 74, 126, 138, 155, 156 

Antonio, 51 

Antony, 124, et passim 

apparent, 90 

apprehensive, 110 

apron, 46 

apt, 116, 164 

arrive, 59 

art, 150 

Artemidorus, 103 

arts (or ortsf), 138 

Ate, 120 

at hand, 140 

at mouth, 64 

at the stake, 138 

audience, 122, 141 

augurers, 90, 99 

aweary, 145 

awl, 47 

aye, 106 



bachelor, 134 
bait, 142 
banqueting, 55 
base degrees, 79 
basest metal, 49 
bastardy, 87 



battles, 155 

bay'd, 118 

beads, 121 

bear ... a hand, 53 

bear back, 129 

bear baiting, 138 

bear . . . hard, 67, 91, 116 

bear fire, 86, 146 

bear no color, 80 

beest, 104, 146 

behaviors, 53 

beholding, 125 

belike, 133 

bend, 57, 149 

best respect, 54 

bestow . . . time, 169 

Bible, 99 

bills, 161 

bird of night, 69 

blaze forth, 99 

blood, 49, 94 

blood cold, 153 

bloods, 54, 152 

bloody sign, 155 

bootless, 111 

bravery, 155 

break, "88 

brook'd, 59 

brought, 68 

Brutus, first consul, 59 

budge, 143 

bury, 125 

business (trisvl.?), 137 

bat (= only ?), 76 

butchers, 120 



calculate, 71 

calendar, 80 

Calpurnia, 51, 97, 121 

cancel, 73 

canopy, 159 

Capitol, 85, 106, 107, 124 

carrions, 87, 121 



cast (or case?) yourself, 71 

catching, 121 

Cato, 159, et passim 

cautelous, Mi 

censure, 123 

ceremonies, 49, 50, 90, 97 

chafing, 56 

change, 139, 163 

charactery, 95 

charge, 134, 141, 156 

charm, 93 

check'd, 145 

cheer, 112 

chew, 60 

choler, 143 

choleric, 143 

chopp'd, 64 

Cicero, 06, 68, etc. 

Cinna (L. C), 75 

Cinna (Helvius), 134 

circulation of blood, 94 

clean from, 70 

climber, 79 

clock, 89 

close, 75, 118 

coffin, 127 

cogitations, 53 

cognizance, 101 

Colossus, 58 

come by, 88 

commend, 154 

commons, 128, 137 

compact, US 

companion, 147 

compass, 162 

complexion, 74 

concave, 49 

conceit, 117 

conceited, 77 

concluded, 102 

condition, 92, 93 

conditions, 143 

conference, 60 

confines, 120 

conjure, 58 

conn'd, 145 



187 



188 



INDEX. 



consorted, 156 
constancy, 105, 108, 110 
construe, 58, To, 164 

content. 14u 
contrive, 88, 104 
controversy, 56 
coachings, 109 
could, 155 
counsel, 105 
counters, 145 
course, 51 
coward lips, 57 
cowards die, 99 
creatines, 87 

cremation, 125 

crests, 140 
cross, To 
cull, 49 

curse, sterile, 51 
curt'sies, 109 
cynic, 147 



dank, 93 

dearer, 117 

Decimus, 70, et passim 

Decius, 70, 100, etc. 

deliver, 117 

did (weak auxiliary:-), 57 

difference, ■'■'< 

digest, 00, 144 

dint, 131 

directly, 40, 51, 134, 137 

discard, 96 

dishonor, 146 

distract, 148 

dogs of war, 121 

doomsday, 113 

doublet, 65 

doubt, 87 

drachmas, 132 

drawn upon a heap, 69 

drizzl'd blood, 48 



E 

element, 75, 143, 169 
emulation, 104 
end ( =accomplishment?), 99 
enforced, 124 
enfranchisement, 112 
enlarge, 141 
enrolled, 124 
ensign, 158, 161 
entertain, 169 
envy, 88 
Erebus, 83 
eternal devil. 59 
Et tu, Brute, 111 
even, ^7, 96 
exhalations, 80 
exigent, 156 
exorcist, 96 
expedition, 149 
expounded, 101 
extenuated, 124 



P 

face, 155 

face of men, 86 

fain, 63 

fall. 119, 140 

falling sickness, 64 

tails shrewdly, 115 

familiar instances, 134 

fantasy, 90, 92 

far (= farther?), 129, 161 

fashion, 147 

Fates, 104, 113 

favor, 55, 75, 83 

fear. 89 

fearful, 154 

feast of Lupercal, 50 

fellow, 110 

ferret, 60 

figures, 92 

fire (dissyl. ?), 116, 133 

first decree, 109 

flood, 59 

flourish, 107, 130 

fond, 109 

foremost man, 142 

formal constancy, 92 

former (= foremost T), 158 

forth, 00 

forth of, 134 

fray, 105 

fret, 84 

friends am I, 118 

from. 70, 71, 90, 141 

funerals, 165 



general, 7^ 

genius, 82 

gentle, 63 

gerund, 45 

ghost of Caesar, 153, 154 

givi s way to, 104 

glasses, 91 

glaz'd (= glared ?), 69 

gliding ghosts, 71 

god, 57 

good regard, 118 

gracious, 131 

gray beards, 100 

Greek, 06 

griefs, 74 

growing on the south, 85 



had rather, 60, 123 

handiwork, 47 

hands, 07 

happy, loo 

hats (Roman), 83 

have ( pin. for sing. ?), 97 

Havoc: 120 

health. 143 

healthful, 95 

hearse, 129 



heavy, 94 

hedge, 143 

held . . . strong, L58 

high east, 85 

high-sighted, S6 

hilts, KB, 168 

hinds. 73 

his (=it8?), 142 

holes, 91 

holiday, 45 

hollow. 140 

holy place, 133 

holiest. Ill 

honesty, 86, 144 
honey-heavy, 92 

honor, 56, 84, 95, 115, 123, 

142, 152 
honorable, 67, 126 
hour's, 103 
however, 66 

Iculed, 64 

humor, 67. 93, 100, 146, 147 

hurtled, 98 

Hybla, 156 



idle bed, 86 
ill-temper'd, 146 
impatience, 93 
incertain, 159 
incorporate. 75 
indirection, 115 
ingrafted, 89 
indifferent, 74 
indifferently, 55 
instances, 139 
instruments, 82 
in suppressive, 87 
interim, 81 
intermit, 49 
is ascended, 122 
itching palm, 142 



jades, 140 
jealous, 59 
jigging, 147 
just (= well ?), 54 



kerchief, 95 
kind, 71, 80 
knave, 46, 152 



laboring day, 45 
last of the Romans, 165 
laughter, 54, 144 
law of children, 109 
let blood, 116 
lethe, 118 



INDEX. 



189 



levying, 138 

liable, 61, 102 
light, 162 
like, 64, 103 
likes, 67 
limbs, 120 
live-long, 48 
lottery, S6 
lover,' 104, 122, 159 
loves (plu.), 132 
Lupercal, 50, 126 
lusty, 56, 101 



M 
mace, 153 
make, 89 
makes to, 108 
man (colloquial), 58 
mantle, 129 
rnanv a, 48 
March, Dr. F. A., 50 
mark, 108 
marry, 63 
mart, 142 
masters, 127 
matter (= trouble ?), 60 
may (= can ?), 83 
me (ethical dative ?), 65 
mean, 116 
mechanical, 45 
merely, 53 
metal, 49 
mettle, 66 

Metellus (Tillius ?), 75 
• mistook (= mistaken?) , 53 
modesty, lis 
moe, 82 

monstrous state, 72 
morrow, 100 
mortal, S2 
mortified, 96 
most boldest, 119 
most unkindest, 130 
motion, 81 
Munda, 47 

my lord (as a compound 
noun), 93 



N 

name (=self ?), 61 
napkins, 128 
nay, 125 
neat, 47 
Nervii, 129 
new-added, 150 
nice, 141 
niggard, 151 
night-gown, 91 
noble, 67, 144 
nod, 57 
nor no, 92 
nor nothing, 149 
noted, 141 
numbers, 122 



O 

objects (or abjects ?), 138 
observe, 53, 143 
occupation, 65 
Octavius, 122 
o'ershot, 128 
o'ersway, 90 
o'erwatcird, 152 
offal, 73 

Olympus, HI, 145 
once, 150 
one only, 59 
o'nights, 61 
opinion, S9 
orchard, 7s 
order, 119 
ordinance, 71 
out, 46 

P 
palm, 5S 
palter, S6 
parchment, 127 
pardon, 119 
parley, 156 
Parthia, 73, 162 
parts ( = fourths), 76 
passion, 121 
path, S3 
peevish, 157 
phantasma, 82 
Philippi, 149 
pitch, 50 
places, 148 
plague, 49 

Pluto (or Plutus ?), 146 
Pompey's porch, 74, 107 
Portia, 92, 148, 149 
posture . . . are, 15G 
powers, 138, 149 
praetor, 76, 106 
prefer, 10S 
preformed, 71 
preordinance, 109 
presage, 158 

present (this present), 60, '.'7 
presently, 10S, 115, 150 
press, 52 

prevention, S3, 108 
prick'd, US, 136 
proceeded, 60 
proceeding, 102 
prodigious, 72 
produce, 119 
profess, 55 
pronoun omitted, 47 
proof, 79, 95, 157 
proper, 47, 53, 165 
proscription, 136, 137, 149 
protester, 54 
prythee, 104 
Publius, 102, 107, 136 
puissant, 109 
pulpits, 111, 119 
purchase, 87 
purgers, S9 
puts on, 66, 71, 91 



Q 

quality, 71 
quarrel, 79 
question, 123, 149 



R 

raise, 152 

range on, 86 

rank, 111, 116 

rascal, 145 

reason, 79 

reason with, 159 

re-cover, 47 

redress, 109 

reek 116 

regard, 118, 139, 162 

remorse. 79 

render. 1 17 

rendered, L02, 122 

repeating, llil 

replication, -19 

resolved, 114, 130, 139 

respect to, 123 

revenge, 145 

rheumy, 93 

rhyme, 68 

right form, 98 

riv'd, 68 

Pome and room, 59, 121 

rote, 145 

rout, 55 

rude, 123 

rumor, 105 

Ruskin, 84, 85 



S 

same, 103 
satisfied, 115, 122 
sauce, 66 
saucy, 46, 147 
save he, 169 
save I. 125 
scandal, 55 
scap'd, 148 
scope, 146 
search, 163 
secret, 86 
security, 104 
senate, 100 
senate-house, 104 
sensible of, 69 
set on, 52, 161 
several, 87, 122, 132, 167 
shadow, 54 
sham'st thou, S3 
-ship (suffix), 65 
should (= can ; ought to ; 
would, etc. ?), 58, 89, 94 
shrewd, ss 
shrewdly, 115 
sick offense. 93 
sick . . . whole, 96 
side, 105 

sign'd in thy spoil, US 
slight, 137 



190 



INDEX. 



smatch, 16S 
softly, 140, 156 

soil, 58 

soldier (trisyl. ?), 137, 141 

soles, 46 

sound, 8V 

speed, 55, 106 

spleen, 144 

spoke, 86 

Bqueal, 98 

stake, 138 

stale, 54 

stand strong 1 , 87 

stand upon, 113 

stare, 153 

stars (in astrology), 58 

Btate, 115 

state of man, 82 

statue, 101, 130 

stay, 160 

steads, 158 

still, 64 

stomachs, 158 

stood on, 97 

store, 137 

strain, 157 

stricken, 90 

stroken, 118 

strucken, 102 

suburbs, 94 

submitting me, 70 

success, 97 

such that (= such as ?), 74, 

109 
sufferance, 72, 86 
sufficeth, 96 
suicide, 164 
superstition, 83, 90 
sway, 68 
swoonded, 64 
synecdoche, 120 



T 



tag-rag, 64 
taper, 7s 
tardy form, 66 
Tarquin, 59, 81 
taste, 138 
temper, 57 



tempest-dropping-fire, 68 

testament, 128 

testy, 143 

than me. 72 

Thasos. 104 

that (=so that?), 48, 83 

that ... as, 53 

theatre (Pompey's), 76 

there's (with plur.), 75, 123 

these ... as, 60 

thews, 72 

think. 162 

thorough, 115, 160 

thong. 45. 95.156 

thought (take thought), 89, 

169 
threefold world, 137 
thunder-stone. 70 
Tiber . . . her, 48, 49, 56 
tide, 120 
tidings, 148, 163 
tinctures, 101 
to (omitted), 45 
to friend, 115 
toils. 91 
to-morrow. SO 
to-night. 97, 134 
toward (accent '?), 55 
trade, 45, 47 
trash, 142 
Trebonius, 107 
triumph, 47 
trophies, 50 
true, 65 
true-fix'd, 110 
tut! 155 



U 

unbraced, 70 
undergo, 74 
underlings, 58 
unfirm, 68 
ungently, 92 
unicorns, 90 
unluckily, 134 
unmeritable, 137 
unpurged, 93 
unshak'd, 111 
upmost, 79 



upon, 148 

upon a wish, 133 

use, 98 



ventures, 151 
vessel, 167 
villager, 60 

villains, 161 
vouchsafe, 95, 114 
vulgar, 50 



w 

wafture, 92 

walks, 59 

warn, 155 

wasted, 81 

watch, 97 

we hear two lions, 99 

weighing, 85 

well given, 61 

what, 70, 86 

when ! 78 

whe'r, 49, 165, 167 

whether, 90 

while, 72 

whiles, 62 

whit, ss 

who (= which ?) 69, 146, 158 

wind, 137 

with. 59, 109, 120 

with a thought, 162 

withal, 47, 93 

writ (or luitt), 131 

worships, 55 



yearns, 103 
Ve, if vou, 116 
yond, 162 

you, 46, 104 
youths, 88 
youthful season, 85 
you were best, 134 



